Stolen Heart
by FlameBitchx3
Summary: She's the stubborn girl who saw past his good looks, and he's the the arrogant thief who saw something more to her. Skye x Claire CURRENTLY UNDER REVISION.
1. Black Mind

I rolled over in my bed, light from the outside shining through my window, making a diagonal ray that led straight to the floor and revealed particles that floated lazily in the air. Pain. There was an aching pain that started in my back and soon ran throughout my body as I moved more and more. Getting up now seemed out of the question, since it would hurt and I was still tired. The sun told me that I should have been awake hours ago, but seeing as no one noticed my absence, It wouldn't hurt to rest a bit more until I was fully awake. I shut my eyes, focusing only on the sound of the ceiling fan whipping in one direction and the comfort of curling up and pulling the blanket over my shoulder.

_SLAM! _Then there was a startling sound that emitted from the front of the house and shook the windows and walls of the home. As any person would be when they've just woken up, my ears were sensitive to all noise and the slamming just made me cover my ears and whine. I opened my eyes and propped myself up with my elbow, squinting at the sudden brightness. The figure became clear that it was Takakura, my father's best friend and co-owner of the farm.

"Hey!" He shouted, his thick southern accent flowing throughout the house – if you could even call it that. "Wake up! It's nearly noon!"

I furrowed my brow and groaned, plopping back down on the bed and paused, waiting as the sharp pain shook my body. After the pain faded, I pulled the bed sheets over my head and shut my eyes, hoping he'd be sympathetic enough to leave and let me rest a little while longer. It quickly hit me that this was the same Takakura who forces me to work until fatigued and says 'No blood, no foul'. After re-evaluating the situation at hand, I quickly asked "Can't I take a sick day?" but it came out more as a whine, and I buried my face into the pillow, waiting for the response.

I heard footsteps walking towards my direction, and the bed sheets were quickly pull off of me, a draft of cool air greeting my body and releasing any heat that was left. I rolled over onto my back – waited for the pain to subside – and fixed my eyes towards the ceiling fan that rotated above my head.

"I'll take that as a no." I muttered.

He clapped 3 times, signaling me to hurry up and get out of bed. "C'mon now, time is money! You've barely got enough to buy a slice a bread, so hurry up and start tending to yer crops!" He nagged, waiting impatiently at the foot of the bed.

"Alright already!" I groaned once again. "I heard you the first time, I'll be out in a few, uncle." I sat up, trying to remember that I wasn't in my small apartment back in the city anymore, and lifted my arms up, stretching and hearing a couple pops coming afterwords. Takakura wasn't really my uncle, but I just called him that, since Papa and him seemed to get along like brothers. In fact, he'd even asked me to call him uncle years ago, when I still wore pigtails and was only 3 feet tall. Of course, being a naïve little girl and all, I had actually thought Takakura was my blood-related uncle until I was 15.

He smiled, satisfied that he'd successfully gotten me out of bed. "Farm life is too hard on ya, ain't it?" He patted my back, and I let out a painful moan to show that I was still sore from the week that had gone by. "Oh, heh, sorry Blondie." He apologized, retracted his hand as I stood up and walked towards the wooden chest by the foot of the bed that held my clothing.

_'Honestly, they don't even have closets here!' _I thought angrily, still a little frustrated with the farm – If you could even _call _it that.

I rummaged through the chest, the clothes being the same exact thing – a plaid button up long sleeve with a pair of overalls – the only choices I could make was pick the colors. _'4 points for variety, uncle.' _I muttered sarcastically in my head and grabbed a clean pair of clothes as Takakura began to speak again. "I'll let ya get all pretty then." He said, walking out the open door and grabbing the doorknob, the door following him until it closed shut.

I let out an exasperated sigh. _'Oh papa, I don't think I can handle this.'_

* * *

It was midday. The field was free from any living things, only dirt, rock, and wood resided on the land. The sun shone bright, nearly blinding me when I looked up from the ground and the heat it emitted was enough to make sweat roll down my forehead. I lifted my arm, raising up to my forehead to both wipe away the sweat and shield my eyes from the scorching light source. My stomach growled hungrily and I realized that I was already hungry after eating only some toast and eggs. I let out a weary sigh, looking back down at the ground that was littered with weeds.

There wasn't much I could do on this farm, considered the land was useless until I clear it out. I was only able to easily clear a small area by the pond, which seemed like a convenient enough place to plant my first set of crops with the seeds I had been given. Even with that much, All I could do was plant and water, and then wait. Waiting was a problem, I don't have enough patience to wait for my crops to grow so I could sell them and make my first Gold. On top of that, turnips weren't worth much, so become 'rich beyond my wildest dreams' like Takakura and Mom had mentioned before persuading me to taking up the farm was not going to be so easy as I had originally thought.

Taking a deep breath, using all my strength to lift up my scythe and swing it back and forth across the ground, cutting the weeds that were within a 5 foot radius.

"Claire!" a familiar voice shouted, and jumped. Startled, I snap my head towards the area where the voice originated from. Scanning the area thoroughly I see a brunette with a small container in her hands appear from the entrance of the farm, following the dirt ridden path that led to my house, and finally, the land.

"Celia!" I exclaimed, a smiling curling up my lips as I dropped my tool and ran towards her, already smelling the scrumptious scent of Mountain stew flowing through the air. I had met Celia my first day in Forget-Me-Not Valley, while I was out harvesting wild plants. She saw me struggling and came right by my side, helping me pull out the plant. She had asked that same question everyone else had and realized that I was Takakura's apprentice. I went to visit her out in Vesta's fields everyday since, and we became fast friends after that.

"I made you some Mountain stew, since I know you can't cook and all." She smiled nervously, gesturing the container of stew towards me and placing it my hands. The food was still piping hot as I felt the heat of the container tingle my fingers. "I thought you might want something to eat for lunch. I hope I'm not being too forward, since we just met and all."

"Oh not at all!" I assured her, staring down at the lid container hungrily. _'I might just be saying that partly because I really really love Mountain stew.'_ Something in the back of my mind told me, and I quickly shook off the thought. _'Ah, not like it matters!' _

"That's great!" She beamed, smiling warmly. She looked over my shoulder to peek at what I had been doing before as the topic for another conversation popped into her head. "How's the farm coming along?"

"Barely." I muttered, glaring back at the scythe on the ground and the patch of earth amongst the sea of weeds.

"Well it is your first week after all, but you'll get used to the work after a while! In fact, It just might get a little easier for you." She continued talking about how raising crops was hard for her and anything else that fell under the category of 'farming'.

_'Why is it that I can't escape this farm?'_ It wouldn't be long before the farm starts appearing in my dreams. It's not like I was purposely trying to drown Celia out, but the topic of farming and farm had been all the town ever wanted to talk about with me. How come no one ever talked about their weekend or anything that could qualify as 'fun' with me? I couldn't even get away, because ever single moment was work, and when I wasn't working, I was talking about it. I shook my head, decided to pay my attention back to Celia as she finished.

"...And that's just a small tip that will cut your workload in half." She smiled warmly, feeling as if she had actually helped me.

_'Damn it! I just drowned out the most vital information I could ever ask for!' _I was mentally slapping myself as I forced a smile on my lips, trying my best to hide my frustration. "T-Thanks Celia, I really appreciate it."

"No problem! Well, I'm gonna go now, I just wanted to drop off your lunch. Enjoy the food, Claire!" and with that, she was gone. I looked at the container once more, licking my lips as I did so. I couldn't wait to eat, and I decided taking a break was necessary.

_'I can't wait to eat this! I hope Celia's a good cook.' _I walked, headed towards the home while I stared at the lid of the container. _'I bet she is, it doesn't smell like it was burned or anything.' _I took a deep breath, inhaling the intoxicating scent of Mountain Stew. _'Damn, I'm getting hungrier by the minute.' _I mentally paused for a minute. _'Come to think of it, I've been eating so much lately.'_

"If I eat too much, I might get FAAAAAT!" My foot must have tripped on one of those _**stupid **_stones or something, because now I was falling and bracing for impact. My body slammed against the ground, sending a huge shock of pain throughout my body and I hissed, flinching. That's when I noticed that the container of food had flown across the air, and I could of swore a part of me died as I watched my precious lunch fly. I don't know how, but it landed perfectly a couple of feet away, and the worse that happened was the lid popped off and only a spoonful of stew followed the lid. Other than that, my lunch was perfectly fine.

I let out a sigh of relief, tempted to wipe my forehead and flick my hand in exaggeration. I knelled and got up, wiping off the dirt and...

"Turnip?..." I looked at the ground, and my face darkened. I had landed on three of my crops, and one of them had already sprouted. _'the one crop that finally grew completely... was the one that I crushed.'_ Bits of turnip were decorating my overalls, I almost let a tear fall. All the built-up frustration that I had been quietly bottling up from every single mishap since Monday was all let out by one loud scream.

"**AAAAH!**"

* * *

It was 10pm. The moon shined high and bright in the dark sky. Shadows hid weeds and stones, and it became harder to clear out the field. My hair was up in a messy bun, stray strands of hair sticking out and bouncing around. I had put it up earlier in the afternoon when the sun was at it's hottest. I was too preoccupied with the field to put it back down when the sun started to set, and now cool breezes had cooled me off and dried off all the sweat. _'Ugh, I need a shower.'_

I looked over at Takakura's house, the light that came from within shining out the window and leaving a shadow of four blocks on the ground. The light soon flickered off, which meant that he – along with the rest of town – was going to bed.

I straightened my back, placing my scythe blade down and supporting myself up on the handle. Looking over at the entrance of my farm, I thought for a moment. _'Why don't I go out? Everyone's asleep by now, which means no one would be able to talk to me about the farm.' _Just that one fact made me want to drop my tools and run out into town. _'Maybe I can find something fun to do.'_

The town wasn't anything like the city – obviously, I knew that – which meant that there wasn't bars and nightclubs around every corner. It meant that the town was lit up by the moon at night, not by street lamps and cars. That also meant there wasn't thousands of stores and restaurants to eat and shop at. There wasn't any huge shopping malls. The town sleeps, the city never does.

I began to remember everything about the city as I dragged my heavy feet across the ground, clouds of dust forming then falling as I did so. _'Who knew I missed home so much?' _Heading out into town, I pulled off the ponytail holding up my hair and brushed it out with my fingers as it fell and landed on my back and shoulders. I walked, not really sure where I was going until I start going uphill. I stopped, just a couple of feet from the foot of the hill. _'A hill? Where could this possibly lead to?'_ There were these huge cherry blossom trees lining both sides of the path. I looked around, looking for a sign that said 'No Trespassing' or 'Do Not Enter', but there were no signs whatsoever.

_'What if the signs are at the top of the hill? It would be a pain to walk all that way just to come back down.' _I thought about the pros and cons – either go home and fall asleep, or go uphill and see what awaits. Even if there was a sign that would prevent me from going any further, I could probably lose some weight from the walk up and down hill. – and decided that no matter which way I look at it, it's still better then going home and going to sleep.

So I began. The long uphill walk that would take me somewhere that wasn't the dreaded farm. It reminded my a lot about high school, that was also on a hill that consisted of a twenty minute walk up to school. _'High school... pretty fun while it lasted.'_ I was the captain of the girls' volleyball team my third year, and I was fairly popular amongst the girls.

_'Amongst the girls...'_

I was never very popular with boys in high school. They never looked at me, I never seemed to catch their attention, and I've... never had a boyfriend. Of course I had my first kiss, even if it was at a friends' party playing truth or dare._ 'But I'm sure that counts! I mean, I kissed someone other then my parents, even if there wasn't any feelings behind it. But come to think of it, I did develop a crush on the boy I kissed. I was crushed when I found out he had gotten a girlfriend the next day when we went back to school.' _I was just that naïve when I was younger. I've thrown in the towel with men. Of course, I do think every now and then it would be nice to have someone to get my mind off this stupid farm but... men have no interest in me.

"Hello, beautiful. Walking alone at night?"

_'Like that, no guy has ever called me beautiful before, so hoping for that special someone would be –'_

"B-Beautiful?" who said that? I quickly looked up and was shocked to see that there was a tall man in front of me, long silver hair that was swept off to the side and adorned his face. Although I only saw his eyes for a moment, they were a bright, memorizing aqua. They looked like two jewels, hidden beneath his lids, as he kept his eyes closed. Probably because he was waiting for me to respond. I was too busy looking at him to reply, studying his every feature.

"It's very rude to stare, fair maiden. I'm well aware that I am quite handsome, but you've just been standing there for a while now." He placed his hand on my cheek, and heat rose to my face. I quickly swatted his hand away, and took a step back, looking at him in bewilderment.

"Kii! D-Don't touch me! I-I don't even know you! Walking around here, calling girls b-b...b-beau.. –" The word was stuck in my throat. I don't know why I was so flustered. Although he seemed a bit cocky, he _was_ a good-looking guy.

He chuckled and brushed his hair out of his eyes with his hand. "You've probably heard of me, since I'm quite the ladies' man, and a prince of the stars." He gestured towards the sky, a smirk curled upon his lips.

I blinked, raising a brow at his statement. A bit cocky might have been an understatement, He definitely thinks highly of himself. Ladies' man? Prince of the stars? What the _hell?_ This guy couldn't be serious! "That attitude will get you nowhere but trouble." I said bluntly.

He chuckled once more. I heard something slam, and looked in the direction that it originated from. I gasped as I realized that there was mansion on this hill! I could barely make out the color of the walls, they looked gold. The large estate was illuminated from the inside and there were millions of windows. I couldn't imagine how large it was on the inside. There was also a large fountain right in between the 'Prince of the Stars', me and the mansion. '_Who could possibly live in such luxury?'_

As if to answer my question, a familiar female voice screams from the other side of the fountain. "Hey! Aren't you that famous thief that warns his victims ahead of time?" I hear footsteps, it sounds like she's walking around the fountain, and the owner of the voice appeared from behind it.

"Lumina?" She lived in a mansion? How come she never mentioned this before?

More importantly, did she just say thief?

"Hehe Sorry, but I'm a bit pressed for time. I'm about to jet out."

"Hey hey wait! What the hell? Where are you going? Could you at least tell me who you are?" '_So I can turn you in if I don't catch you now.'_

The silver-haired thief paused, before turning around and let out a small chuckle. How many times is going to do that? "Call me Phantom Skye. I have a feeling we'll meet again, it's in the stars." He looked up at the sky once more, then winked. He continued walking down the hill, and as I watched him I wondered what It was that he stole.

_'Probably some jewels.' _After all, a mansion in such a small town just screams _'steal from us, we're rich!'. _

...Wait, why the hell aren't I doing anything about this? As I decide to chase after him, Lumina shouts and storms after him angrily.

"Wait right there!"

He stopped, turned to look back at Lumina and I swear his eyebrow twitched in the process. It was probably getting to him, trying to make a getaway while two people keep interrupting him. Why does he even stop anyway? What kind of idiot actually listens to what the person the stole from says? Realizing that this guy isn't such a huge threat considering how much of an imbecile he is, I decide to let Lumina take care of it.

"Hold up beautiful. Don't let such raw anger steal away your beauty."

Was it the way he looked at he when he said it, or was it more the way he said it? Either way, Lumina seemed to melt. Her face gained a red tint and she blinked a couple of times before 'shot-with-cupids-arrow' look replaced her once angry face. "What a smooth talker… Phantom Skye…"

His reaction was more of a chuckle and smirk, once he had accomplished was he wanted to. Not looking back to see my shocked expression, he continued on the downhill path that would take him back to town.

"L-Lumina!" I shrieked. "Go after him!" I pushed her, urging her to go and catch him. She walked at a leisurely pace, not planning to speed it up anytime soon. I figured that she wasn't going to actually _chase _him, so I quickly ran after him. It didn't even make it half way before the darkness of the night had engulfed him and he was gone.

I stood there, staring at the foot of the hill waiting for Lumina to catch up with me. A minute later and she appeared, walking at the same pace as she was at the gates of the mansion. She must have seen that he had already escaped, and going down any further would just be a waste of time. "Phantom Skye! He… he got away from me!" Even though she said that, I felt that she didn't feel any sort of resent at letting him get away.

"Somehow I don't feel like you regret letting him go at all." I muttered under my breath, a little bit exasperated from all this crazy.

She smiled like an idiot and giggled. "That thief is cool!"

"Yeah. Real cool." I was well aware my tone was drenched with sarcasm, but I couldn't believe I was wrong on my judgment of letting Lumina get the thief herself.

I left Lumina to figure out her mistake on her own, and I went down the long hill that would take me home. Something very interesting had happened in this plain old town, and I know his name. His words still echoed in my mind, and as they did I began scheming.

_'I have a feeling we'll meet again, It's in the stars.'_

Oh yes we will, Phantom. And when we do, I'll be sure to capture and arrest you!

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Now, I did go ahead and revise the first chapter, for some of you who have read this story before, and wow, have I improved! As for those of you who haven't read this story and it's your first time, Proceed at your own risk. I've only updated the first chapter, and every other chapter was written a year ago. I've still got a lot of improving to do, but it's much better than it was when I first wrote this story. So, unless you feel like waiting for me to update the entire story (Which I probably won't do.) You can _try _to read ahead and like the rest of this story. But I guarantee that my vagueness will probably keep you from enjoying the story. Anyways,

R&R!


	2. Chickens & Curry

_**Saturday**_

_RIIIIING!_

My alarm clock had rung, but I was already awake. I had stayed awake the whole night, trying to persuade myself that the contents of last night were not a dream, but that it was in fact reality. The old fashion alarm clock continued to ring and shake, until I brought my fist down on the off button. The sun was barely peeking out of the west horizon, because the sky was no longer black, but a dull blue color. I could somewhat make out the objects in the room. I looked back at the ceiling and I wondered how I hadn't burned a hole in it, considering how long I've been staring at it. Rolling over, I decided to my sight to the wall, as I laid on my side.

_'He called me beautiful.' _I could feel a small smile curling on my lips. I could even feel my cheeks burn a little. Blinking, I shook the thought, my rational side taking over. '_He also flirted with Lumina, Claire. Let's be real, just because he said it doesn't mean he meant it.'_

It's like I had both a realistic Claire and a optimistic Claire fighting with each other in my head. _'Maybe he isn't superficial and can see past a woman's looks! I bet he thinks every girl is beautiful. Besides, what's wrong with receiving a complement from an attractive man?' _

Realistic Claire stayed silent for a moment, before coming up with a retort. _'This so called 'attractive' man is just an arrogant womanizer. And, he's a thief! Besides, do you think such an handsome man would ever be attracted to a young farm girl like you?'_

Damn, that hurt both of us.

_'Wait a minute, did I really just split myself into three? What the hell!'_

Frustrated, I sat up and threw my pillow at the door, screaming. _'It doesn't even matter if he likes me or not! Didn't I tell myself last night that I would definitely catch the narcissistic crook?' _Letting my facial expression relax, I remembered what I had told myself last night. _'That's right. I made a promise to myself that I would catch him.' _

A devious smirk replaced my once placid expression. _'Looks like I'm going to be doing some ghost hunting tonight.'_

_SLAM. _The noise startled me once again, and I looked over to see no other than Takakura. I dropped my head and sighed, already knowing that I was gonna get an earful again.

"Claire!" He shouted, his thick accent now becoming familiar to me. "Time to get -!" He paused, probably surprised to see me awake and sitting up on my bed. "up?.." He ended his sentence in a question.

I looked over at him lazily, and saw that past him was a familiar brunette, no other than Celia. I sat up a little straighter and watched as Celia excuse herself for intruding and Takakura saying that all he wanted to do was wake me up so that the 'little lady' could come and see me.

"I'll let you two have your little girly talk." He said, walking out and taking the doorknob with him.

She walked towards me, another container in her hands. "I cooked you some Buckwheat Noodles for you today." She handed me the food and sat down next to me. Smelling the intoxicating scent of food made my stomach growl. I could feel some heat rise to my cheeks in embarrassment, and I placed my hand over my stomach self-conciously, hoping she hadn't heard. She looked at my bed, her eyes moving left and right as she noticed the bed sheets were all kicked around and shoved to the foot of the bed. She patted my back with the back of her hand, signaling me to get off.

I shook my head. "Celia, you don't have to -"

She dismissed me with a wave of her hand. "No, I want to. You must be tired considering how hard it is to run a farm all by yourself." She patted my back once more, and I obliged, lifting myself off the bed.

I felt sore, my thighs burning and my back stinging with pain as I moved. I stretched and tried to wake my body up, as Celia pulled the bed sheets into place and smoothed out the wrinkles.

"Sore?" She asked. She must have seen my rubbing my thighs with my knuckles out of the corner of eyes. I hoped that doing that would some how soothe the pain. "That's not going to help." She said, as her eyes flickered back to the bed. She pulled the comforter on top, then stood the pillows up neatly at the headrest. "You must have been working pretty late last night."

Something told me I should mention the encounter with the Phantom thief, but I ignored it. I might deprive myself of vital information if she knew who something about the thief that I didn't. She probably knew a lot more, considering I had just found out about the crook last night. I didn't have to tell her _everything,_ like mentioning how he had shamelessly flirted with me and Lumina, all I need to tell her was the important stuff.

"Actually, I was helping Lumina catch a thief." I waited for a response.

She quickly turned her head away from the bed to look at me with widened eyes. "A thief? You mean the Phantom thief who's been stealing from Mineral Town?"

_Jackpot._

"I heard him mention something about being a Phantom thief." I decided to play dumb a bit, and wait to see how it all plays out.

"Oh no! Phantom Skye is already in Forget-Me-Not Valley! This isn't good!" She was panicking, and she began to pace.

I placed a hand on her shoulder, jolting her to a stop. "Celia, calm down. What's so bad about him? What type of crimes has he committed?" Maybe they just refer to him as a thief because it would take to long to call him by all the crimes he's committed. The thought made me shiver. If he were more than just a thief, I might just be endangering myself.

"He's only stolen." I mentally sighed with relief. "But he's never been caught! He leaves notes warning his victims ahead of time, but no matter how much reinforcements they gather, they always fail!"

My eyes widened. So some people have been smart enough to call for back up. But fail? How? "Even the authorities?" I asked.

"Authorities?" She raised a brow, puzzled. "There are no authorities in Mineral Town, Claire. There aren't any here either."

My heart sank. No wonder this thief hasn't been put to justice. "I see..." Was all I managed to choke out. '_No matter!' _Optimistic Claire beamed. _'You can still catch him! Besides, It's not like he's a burly thief. In fact, I bet you can take him down with one swing!'_

"But that's besides the point!" Celia stated. "I need to go warn the rest of the town!" She turned around and began speed walking towards the front door.

"H-Hey! Wait a minute!" I grabbed her wrist and halted her.

She snapped her head back, look at me. Her brown hair flew and landed on her right shoulder. "What?"

I froze. What was I supposed to tell her? I knew she wouldn't let me handle it alone, and that she'd get the whole town to start a riot. That was far from what I wanted, so instead I took a deep breath and smiled crookedly. "Just kidding!" I said, my voice not as convincing as I hoped. "I'm sorry, it was all a joke. There is no thief in the valley.

She stood, staring me down for an awfully long time before she cracked a smile and giggled. "Jeez, Claire! You suck at this joking thing." I sighed in relief, and let her wrist free. She cover her mouth and continued to laugh before gaining composure and wagging her finger at me. "Watch Claire, I'm gonna get you next time!" She turned the doorknob and swung the door open, before looking back and saying. "And you'll never see it coming." She winked and shut the door behind her as she walked down the dirt path that would take her back to town.

At least she fell for it.

* * *

The water from the Goddess pond barely moved at all, and the silence of the night made me slap the water ever now and then so that I wouldn't have to hear silence through out the night.

Since 6pm I've been out and about, looking everywhere as to where that thief could be, and by 11 I had already given up. The moon shined brightly in the sky, but it wasn't the only thing lighting up the pond. Surround the pound were a bunch of tall plants with some sort of long narrow jewel sprouting out of them. They lit up, lavender and aqua colored light emitting from them.

It seemed a little unrealistic, and I would of been shocked to see such a thing, but the whole incident with the Harvest Goddess, Harvest King and Harvest Sprites had proven that magic and supernatural things existed. And let's not forget the Witch Princess, who brews potions to try and mess with the Harvest Goddess. And to top it all off, I'm the only one who knows these things. When I mentioned the whole ordeal with Harvest whatevers and the Witch Princess to Takakura, he laughed so hard that if I hadn't punched him in the shoulder, he probably would've died from forgetting to breath.

But that wasn't my main concern right now.

I was sitting on the ground, back against the Harvest Sprite tree. I began to look at everything around me. A dirt path, a large hedge that prevented me to see anyone coming, a small piece of land with plants, stones, and wood, and a large water fall with a stream that led down to the ocean.

I knew I shouldn't give up and keep trying to look for ghost boy, but I just couldn't bring myself to get up and abandon the relaxing atmosphere.

'_I have a feeling we'll meet again. It's in the stars.'_

His voice rang in my head, and I turned my head towards the Goddess pond, staring at my own reflection. "Idiot, you can't read the stars and say we'll meet again."

"Yet, here I am." a soothing voice whispered in my ear.

I froze in place, there was someone behind me. My eyes widened, and a blush painted my cheeks. I quickly threw my fist back, scrambling to get up and run once my hand made contact with a face.

"OW!" It was a man, the voice seemed vaguely familiar.

_'No way. It can't be...'_

"Skye?_" _I said, looking back at the man I had just punched. He was rubbing his face, leaning against the tree. I blinked. I had punched the thief. The thief I had been looking for the entire night. Even though he was still recovering, I pulled my arm back and ran towards him, ready to punch him hard enough I'd draw blood.

"How dare you sneak up on me!" I screamed, swing my fist towards his face.

He caught my hand with the swiftness of a feline, and chuckled. "You've got quite an arm there, Claire. Such a shame you're willing to take it out on someone as dashing as I."

My brow twitched. This guy really loves himself. "You piss me off."

He lowered my fist, his hand still on mine. I felt my cheeks burn once more and pulled my hand back.

"Don't touch me!" I snapped.

The silence between us thickened, and it was until then that my brains gears began to turn and my brow furrowed. "What the hell are you doing here?" another pause ensued. "and how the hell do you know my name?"

"I'm here to reward you with my presence."

"No, really. Why are you here." I repeated, in a flat voice. I made sure he knew that I wasn't in anyway grateful he was here. _'But you are.' _I quickly reminded myself. I shook my head and smiled. I could tell that spontaneous act of happiness threw him off a bit. "Never mind that, I'm glad you're here!" I reached for his wrists, smiling as my brows furrowed.

One step ahead of me, He drew back his arms and instead grabbed my wrists, slowly his hands down until he held my hands, intertwining our fingers. "I'm also glad that such a beautiful young maiden is in my presence." He raised my hands up and placed them on his shoulders. I could feel his warms hands placing themselves on my hips, his hands molding into the shape of my smalls curves. "Shall we dance?"

My eyes widened and I was certain that my face was beat red. "Mukii! Don't touch me, you idiot!" I screamed, flustered as I bent my leg and raised it up, kneeing him in the stomach. A satisfactory grin took place on my lips when I heard him grunt and felt him release my body. With my back towards the pond, he backed into the tree and rubbed his stomach.

He chuckled, and then looked at me. "My apologies." He didn't look sorry. "You're like a delicate rose, the ones with a thousand thrones that will prick you if touched." After he recovered from my blow, he grinned. "Those type of roses should be treated with care."

I raised my hand to my cheeks, touching them. The warmth ran through my fingers and I was almost tempted to ask how red I was. "H-Have you no shame?" I stuttered. "Just because you claim to look good doesn't give you the right to flirt with every girl you see." Suddenly my feet caught my attention, and I stood there, my head hanging.

I heard him chuckle, and I saw two pairs of feet parallel from mine. I looked up, and he was standing in front of me. I wasn't going to deny that he was very _very _good-looking, the way his silver hair was swept off perfectly to the side. He didn't seem to have a single crease or wrinkle in his calm expression, and his vanilla-colored skin seemed so smooth, I almost reached out to touch it. It wasn't often that he opened his eyes, but when he did, it revealed two breath-taking aqua beads.

_'I don't know why I feel he's going to start sparkling.'_

"Ah, I suppose this has something to do with my statement yesterday?" He was spot on. He raised his hand up to my face, but then quickly retracted his hands. Probably cause he didn't want another injury. "There is no such thing as a hideous women."

_'I told you!'_

"You don't believe I meant it? Is there a reason?"

Yes, there was a million reasons. Like how I'm not beautiful at all, or how you're way too good-looking for me, or that I must not be your type of girl, and so on. But stating them all would take too long. I pursed my lips and shifted my eyes towards the Harvest Tree, not really wanting to look at him. "I... just thought you were saying it because..." I couldn't give an answer. There was a lump in throat, preventing me from continuing.

"Because?" He repeated.

I lost it. What the hell am I doing anyway? I don't need to explain myself to him! "S-Shut up! Just shut up! I don't need to give you a reason!" I shouted, my brows furrowing. I folded my arms with a 'hmph' and continued to look away. I couldn't help but to glance for just a second to see his reaction.

"You're a... very complex maiden, aren't you?"

"_Complex?_" The word came out of my mouth dripped with venom, and I narrowed my eyes, ready to make another swing at this guy. My eyebrow twitched, why was I still here anyway? "I don't need to deal with your crap! I'm going to do exactly what I planned to do all along!" I reached for his arms, ready to drag him into town if that's what it took.

But no matter how many times I try to reach for him, he would continued to dodge and avoid my every move. He finally caught my forearms, and for a thin looking man he was pretty strong too. I struggled. "Let go of me you crock!" I shouted, wriggling my arms to try and break free.

My back was towards the pond, and it was either step forward to his arms, or step back into the pond. I favored the latter, and took a step back.

_'Claire, you can't swim.' _I reminded myself. I never liked the ocean, pool, or anything that contained a large body of water. I definitely never learned to swim either, and as I felt the edge of the pond at the heels of my feet, I felt that tonight I was either going to have to learn, or join Daddy.

I wanted to move forward, but I couldn't. Skye shortened the distance between us and made it impossible for me to save myself.

"Claire, relax. My intentions aren't to harm you." How could he remain so placid when I was about to fall in?

"I told you I don't want you to touch me! Let go!" I screamed, yanking my arms back and successfully breaking his grip on me. Unfortunately, that's all I needed to send me flying backwards into the pond and that last thing I heard was my name, along with a splash.

_'The pond has to be shallow.' _I kicked my feet, try to keep myself afloat only to sink and submerge completely, without feeling ground whatsoever. _'Wait, is this a bottom less pond?'_ I could tell I was only going deeper and deeper and I wasn't being stopped by the pond floor.

I began to panic, flailing my arms and gaining a headache as the lack of oxygen started to get to me. I kicked, splashed but I couldn't reach the surface. I felt something stiff wrap around my waist and I screamed, releasing any air left in my lungs. I tried push the thing away only to realize it was Skye, and he was saving me.

Air surrounded my head, and we simultaneously gasped for air, as he swam towards the edge and lifted himself up, with me in tow.

I coughed, wheezed, then coughed again, violently pounding my chest. The stiff pair of arms laid me down and I could ground beneath me. Once my breath was back normal, I sat up. I looked at him, narrowing my eyes then pointing. "You nearly killed me!" I shouted.

He was taken aback by my sudden accusation. "Might you mean 'saved'?" He chuckled and brushed his now dripping wet hair out of his face. I noticed he wasn't wearing his jacket, and I figured he must of taken it off before jumping in to save me. Every part of him was wet, his black tank top sticking to his body. Heat rose to my cheeks as the moonlight that hit his body made it glisten. He wasn't burly, but he definitely had small muscles in his arms and chest. He looked ten times more attractive then he did before.

"N-No!" I shivered. It wasn't as cold out when I was dry, but now that water dripped from my heavy clothing and hair, I was freezing. The occasional breezes didn't help either. Hugging my torso, I furrowed my brow. "You shouldn't of touched me!"

"Right." He nodded. "The thorns seemed to have pricked the rose itself."

I puckered my lips. "Stop referring to me as a rose!" I snapped. "Don't you realize that you're a murderer?"

His smug grin dropped and he carried a serious expression. "Murderer?" He looked away from me, clearly offended. "I'll take being called a thief, after all, tis' what I am." He turned his head back to me, narrowing his eyes as he looked me head on. I felt myself shiver, not from the cold, but from the nasty look he gave me. "But I am not a murderer. I'd never harm a single soul even if I were offered riches and power." He lifted himself off the ground, picking up his jacket and throwing it on me. He shut his eyes and his eyebrows twitched, obviously bothered. "I wouldn't want you to catch a cold, so use it." He walked away, towards the hedges then alongside them.

I blinked. _'Apologize, Claire!'_ Maybe it was harsh to call him a murderer, after all he didn't actually kill anyone. Another gust of cool air blew towards me and I shivered once again. He gave me the jacket to use after all, so why not? I slipped on his jacket, and I was completely engulfed in warmth. I sat there, enjoying the comfort and protection from the cold spring air, before remembering that I had severely offended someone. I scrambled off the ground and began to panic I saw that he had already passed the the hedge.

"I'm sorry!" I shouted, then waited for a response. I heard silence, so I continued. "I'm sorry! I had no right to call you..." I hung my head, placing my hands behind my back and shuffling my feet. "... a murderer..." I mumbled, continuing to wait for some type of response from him.

"Your beauty keeps me from retaining any sort of anger." I heard a chuckle, and quickly looked up.

He was smirking, his eyes closed, and the somewhat familiar laid-back expression returned to his face.

"You... you idiot! You seriously had me worried there!" I wanted to smack him across the head, leave a giant bump at the top of skull, but I knew with his reflexes it probably wouldn't be possible. My cheeks gained color when I realized he had complimented me. "Um.. Thanks for the jacket, by the way." I hugged my torso, showing that I was comfortable.

"It's the least I can do."

I smelled something, something delicious and very intoxicating. I sniffed the air once, then I sniffed it again. I realized it was coming from me, and I quickly turned my head to smell my shoulder. By looks of it, he's been around some really great cooks, because his jacket smelled delicious. I looked at him, a half grin curling onto my lips.

"You know, I really like curry too."

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Pond idea? From ~CherishInnocence's Skye x Claire comic, no credit for me there. I have nothing more to say besides

R&R!


	3. Washing & Walking

**__****Sunday**

"Mmmf..."

The alarm clock rang and shook the nightstand. I had only fallen asleep a couple of hours ago, and now I had to wake up and start the day.

"...Shut up..." I groggily said into a muffled pillow. I swung my hand across the nightstand and flung the alarm clock halfway across the house. It slammed against the wall with a final loud _ding!_And then, there was silence.

A smile curled on my lips despite having my face buried into a pillow.

I was laying face down, sprawled across the small twin bed. The bedsheets had fallen over the bed overnight, and the majority of it was scrunched up on the wooden floor, with only a small section actually covering me. I had half-heartedly gotten ready for bed last night, pulling off my wet pants, shirt, and bra and throwing on the floor carelessly. I slept in bed with only Skye's jacket, and panties.

I rolled over on my back and fixed my eyes onto the ceiling.

_Why is that thief so... _

What could be the right word to describe such a man. Despite his narcissist and flirtatious attitude, he was...

_intelligent..._

How was it that this man could slip through the cracks so stealthy and easily? No average crook could steal and roam free for so long.

_Such a shame he'd rather use that intellect on something so... _

It was then that I smelled something foul, like old algae infested water. I sniffed, and sniffed again, trying to locate the source of the stench. I smelled my shoulder and the odor hit me.

"Uh! This stinks!" I scrunched up my face and pulled my head away from the water. The jacket no longer smelled like curry, but instead like repugnant pond water. I crawled over to the chest at the foot of my bed and pulled out an old t-shirt, took off Skye's jacket and pulled the t-shirt over my head, dressing myself.

"Ugh, you'd think for a goddess pond it'd smell much better than that..." I muttered to myself.

I looked over at Skye's jacket that laid sprawled over the foot of the bed beside me. _Am I supposed to give it back like this?_ There's no way I could return the jacket stinking like that, but how was I supposed to clean it? This 'house' didn't come with a washer or dryer.

I groaned, making a face at the jacket as if it were a real person. "Looks I'm going to have to hand wash you.."

_Scrub, scrub, scrub..._

I had borrowed a washing board and soap from Uncle, and washed Skye's jacket the old fashioned way. I dipped it into a bucket of clean water and pulled it back out, lathering it in soap and rubbing it vigorously against the board hoping the harder I scrubbed, the more the scent would fade. With one final scrub, I rinsed the jacket back into the pool and pulled it up to my face, sniffing.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Much better." I smiled smugly. I rung out the jacket and stopped the dripping and draped it onto my arm.

_Now to hang it to dry..._

I looked around. There was a moderate amount of space between my house and a tree, and it seemed like a perfect place to hang the jacket. Then it struck me.

_Crap! I should have set up the clothing line before I washed this thing..._

I looked around, trying to see who could help.

"Hello Claire! Looking for someone?"

I was taken back by the cheerful voice and I looked behind me, laughing a bit when I realized it was only Celia.

"Oh hey Celia! When did you get here? You really startled me."

"Oh! I didn't mean to startle you, Claire." She giggle a bit, bring her hand up to her mouth to cover her laugh. She looked up at me and smiled warmly, tilting her head a bit. "I thought I might check up on you and see how you're doing." She revealed her other hand, which held a plastic container. "I made you lunch again, you don't mind do you?"

"Oh, of course not!" I eagerly grabbed the plastic container and the scent of delicious cooking made my stomach grumble. "What is it?" I said, bring up the container to my face and trying to make out what was inside.

"It's Pumpkin stew." She said. Her eyes wandered towards my arms, and she must have seen the wet jacket, before adding. "Washing clothes, huh? Need help?"

"Actually..." I began, my eyes shifting between Celia and the area I wanted my clothes line to be placed. "I do. Mind tying that rope over there..." I signaled towards the rope that was rolled up by entrance of the home. "...in between the house and tree?"

She looked over to the area I was talking about, before looking back at me and nodded. "Oh, of course!" She said, as she walked over towards the rope, picked it up and tied it to the tree branch to the gutter of the house.

She stepped back, admiring her work before turning to me and smiling. "There you go!"

I smiled back. "Thanks Celia, I really appreciate it."

I walked over towards the line and threw the jacket over it, fixing it so that it hung evenly, before rubbing my arms dry.

"Is that your jacket Claire? Seems a bit big..." She walked towards it, examining it closely. "...And not your style..." She added, before giggling.

_Oh man, what do I tell her?_

I panicked mentally a bit, not knowing what to say. I definitely wasn't going to tell her about the thief, not after yesterday's reaction. "I... I borrowed it!" I said, a little too quickly.

She tilted her head in confusion. "Borrowed it? From who?"

"Uh... M-My cousin! Samuel! From Mineral Town! Y-Yeah, I was over his farm last night to visit, and it was chilly out, so... he let me borrow it..."

"Oh..." She seemed to believe the story. "Well, that was awfully kind of him."

"Y-Yeah, he's a sweetheart when he wants to be..." I mentally let out another sigh of relief. I definitely wasn't a good liar, but I managed to get by again with what I made up. Either that or Celia was a bit of an airhead...

"Glad I could help, Claire. I'll be on my way now!"

"Alright, Celia. See you around!" I smiled and waved at her as she began to walk off.

I redirected my eyes towards the field, sighing. I walked towards the box of tools next to the house and opened it up.

"Time to get to work."

* * *

I ended another hard labor day the same as the day before. "Phew. Glad that's over with." I looked out at the field as I fanned myself with one hand, while the other laid against my tool for support. The moon had finally come out, dull but lovely, in a crescent shape. I always liked the moon better that way.

The field was clear of weeds, stones, and branches. There were still some boulders and logs I wouldn't be able to get rid of until I upgrade my tools. I had been saving money to reach my quota for the chicken shed I wanted to built. I knew the spot I wanted to have it built and all, I was still just a couple gold short.

_Thank god I won't have to rely on mining and gardening as much anymore._

I wasn't the best when it came to gardening and cooking, my mother's greatest fortes, but I was definitely great with animals, and one of the prime reasons why I agreed to take over father's farm. I smiled to thought of having cute little chicks running around.

"Alright, better get this stuff put away and head on out." I said to myself, as I wiped the sweat off my forehead and began to pick up my tools.

"Would like some help with that?"

I jumped and my eyes widened, instinctively grabbing my scythe as a weapon and turning around, ready to attack.

"W-Who said that?!" I stuttered, a bit frightened.

Suddenly, out of thin air, it seemed, the owner of the voice appeared from out of the shadows. The phantom thief was back in the valley.

_And at my farm._

"W-What the hell I are you doing here?! Do you want my uncle to see you?!" I whispered sharply. "More importantly, why are you here?!"

The thief merely chuckled and smirked, brushing his long hair out of his face. Tonight he was revealing much more skin than the nights prior. A black tank top definitely fits him more then that silly old jacket. I couldn't help but admire the thief's fit body and skin that appeared to be as smooth and milky as vanilla. I could feel warmth rise to my cheeks, but I tried to hid it with a scowl.

"Isn't it obvious, fair maiden? I have come to bless you with my presence." He flirted, the smirk not leaving his lips for a second.

"What a great blessing..." I muttered, rolling my eyes, before stopping and coming to a realization. "Wait, how did you know where I lived?!"

"Why, it wasn't too hard to figure out, sweet rose." I cringed. "The new farm girl had taken up the only other farm that was available, which happens to be at this exact spot." He eyed me like a some sort of delectable sweet, which made me uneasy.

"Would you quit looking at me like that? You're eying me like I'm some sort of jewel you want to snatch!" I took a step back. I definitely did not like the vibe this guy was giving out. Although I was not the most experienced in the field of love and men, I didn't like how this guy was overly flirtatious. His arrogance was a turn-off as well.

He chuckled like it was the silliest thing he had ever heard. "Don't be absurd. Although your beauty is definitely that of a diamond, I wouldn't dare steal something as frivolous as a _jewel. _Nonetheless, tis' not why I came." He reached for my hand, delicately grabbing them and bring it up to his lips, raising his brow fiendishly. My face flushed at his touch, but I couldn't bring myself to pull away.

"I would like to know if you, fair maiden, would like to accompany me on a stroll around town?" He brought my fingers towards his lips, but I quickly yanked my hand back.

"D-Don't." I stuttered. Sighing, I picked up my tools and walked away towards the tool box, putting them away. "You know, _you _may not have any duties, but I have a farm to run."

"Oh sweet rose, this silly old farm? You and I know that you don't enjoy this thankless labor anyways." He said, walking towards me and placing a hand on my shoulder. "A lovely rose such as yourself should enjoy herself every once in a while." I grabbed his finger and threw his hand of my shoulder.

"Please don't touch me, you narcissist." I remarked snidely.

He chuckled, ignoring my insult. "Luckily, dear Claire, I am here to save you from this dreadful farm. So please, accompany me on a walk around this lovely town."

I sighed, turning to face him. "You're persistent, aren't you?" He nodded. "Alright, fine. But trying something slick and I won't hesitate to hit you!" I threatened.

He laughed lightly. "Nonsense, fair maiden. I mean no harm whatsoever. What's wrong with an innocent night stroll by ourselves?"

I folded my arms. "I couldn't have said it any better myself. Night stroll by ourselves? Seems suspicious, did you walk Lumina around town too?"

He chuckled. "I'm afraid I don't know a 'Lumina'."

_He's got to be kidding._ I thought. _He flirted with not too long ago and didn't even bother to remember her name?!_

He bent his arm, forearm facing towards me, signaling me to interlock my arms with his, and I made a face. "No." I said flatly, and he shrugged and dropped his arm.

"Your loss, sweet rose."

The two of us walked around the town, side by side, talking about random things, even cracking a joke every now and then. As the time reached 5am, he escorted me back to my farm.

"Much thanks for joining me on a lovely stroll, fair maiden." He swiftly grabbed my hand once more, and kissed it.

Unfortunately, it all happened so fast I wasn't to pull my hand away quickly enough. Retracting my arm, I glared at him, my cheeks a light tint of pink. "I-I told you _not_ to do that, weren't you listening?!" I shouted, slightly flustered.

He smiled. "He he, I'm afraid I couldn't end the night without a proper sign of gratitude."

"The words 'Thank you' work too, you know." I replied, wiping my hand. "Oh! That reminds me, here's your jacket back." I walked towards the clothing line and pulled Skye's jacket off of it. I returned to him, handing him the jacket. "Thanks for letting me borrow it."

"Ho ho, and here I thought the thief would be you." He teased, pulling his arms through the jacket and dressing himself, buttoning it up.

"Funny." I said.

"Well, I should be on my way, I'm under the assumption you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow?"

I groaned. "Y-Yeah..."

The thief placed his hand gently under my chin, lifting it and bringing it closer towards him, looking me straight into the eyes, he began. "I enjoyed myself tonight. I look forward to spending another night like this again."

I blushed furiously and jumped back, slapping his hand away. "D-Don't! Just cut it out, you flirt!" I glared at him. "You're a handsy one, aren't you?!"

"He he, no need to get so worked up, sweet rose. Although, your flustered expressions are quite amusing, as well as adorable."

"You can go now!" I shouted angrily, trying to get him to stop talking. "And _please_ quit calling me sweet rose!"

He chuckled once more, before stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning towards the exist. "Sweet dreams, fair maiden."


	4. Purple Drinks

******Author's Notes: **I don't have much to say besides this is a Monday a week ahead of last chapter. Also, trying to use some newly learned words, let me know if I used them right, thanks.

* * *

**__****Monday**

_Am I doing something wrong here?_

I had been meeting the infamous phantom thief every night for the past week. I had also decided to experiment at Celia's house and cook a bit of curry for him. It was a little embarrassing, handing him food specifically made for him and _boy,_ did he give me a hard time about it. If there were a cooking show dedicated solely to curry cooking, Skye would be the most critical judge of them all. At least he wasn't ungrateful. Strangely enough though, he would eat every last bite of curry on his plate, even if it was burnt. And I couldn't help but ask myself, _If I used the wrong ingredient here or undercooked it over there, why does he bother to eat the entire thing?!_

Maybe he has a stigma against uneaten food.

Skye was both predictable and unpredictable, there was some weird things he did that I couldn't really wrap my mind around.

And then there was the endless flirting, _ugh._

There wasn't a single word that came out of this man's mouth that didn't end with a 'sweet rose' or 'fair maiden' or 'darling Claire'. His favorite words also seemed to be anything synonymousto beautiful.

I did scold him and warn him to stop with his flirtatious advances. Normally any other girl would have been flattered to receive such compliments, but Skye's compliments were empty words with ulterior motives. He didn't truly care for any of these females, nor does he mean anything he says. His disregard for girls' feelings and manipulation of women just infuriates me!

I never let my guard down though, you can never befriend a thief and expect them not to steal from you. Thieves are thieves, before they are friends. Luckily, I hadn't lost a thing except for pen.

Takakura had eventually given up with getting me up before the sun, and just let me sleep in until 10.

"You know, Claire. you'll never get anything done if you keep waking up at this hour. The sun isn't forgiving later on in the day, before you know it you'll be crawling back inside and all the farm work will stay undone!" I remembered the scolding he had given me one morning, and after a muffled whine emitted from my pillow, a response to his statement followed.

"Takakura, I've been doing this in blazing weather for a week now. I can handle the spring heat." I began. "Besides, this farm isn't going to depend on crop income." I remember throwing my feet off the side of the bed as I sat up. "I can sleep in as long as I want when Gotz finishes building my Bird Shed!"

Takakura did not look amused. "Well, don't beg for help when your little chickies start getting sick now, because I'll just tell you should've been taking care of em' instead of sleeping your life away!" Nonetheless, after that little ordeal, he never came to bother me again.

_Oh uncle, you really do worry too much_.

My chickens were doing more then fine, with food as soon as I got up, let out the entire day, then put back in before the sun set. Gotz had recommended I lay a fence around the shed so putting them back in would be a breeze. Boy, was I glad I took his advice. The rain pelted against the shed windows, a pitter patter that was always so calming to me. The sky was gray and fairly dark, meaning I had to turn on some lanterns to be able to see inside. "Alright, chickies, here's your food!" I picked up the bag of chicken feed and poured it into their feeding pens. The chickens as well as chicks pecked away, and the sight of the little chicks chirping and pecking away at the food with their tiny adorable beaks was driving me insane. I just wanted to pick up the little chick and give it tons of kisses. 'That would be really unsanitary though...'

"Claire!"

A devastated cry emitted from outside of the shed, and I looked back only to see Celia with her umbrella, pushing the shed doors open and letting herself in. "Oh Claire! Marlin is such an... Ugh!" She shoved the doors closed, before closing her umbrella and tossing it aside.

"Celia! You went out in the rain just to tell me something Marlin did?" She blushed a bit, her angry expression softening to an embarrassed one.

"I-I... Maybe I did! I just... Oh Claire, I just got so upset, and I need to let off some steam." She sighed, before leaning against the shed doors. Seeing Celia upset was a very odd sight, especially since you only ever saw her with a placid smile and kind eyes everywhere she went. _I suppose __even the sweetest people hit their breaking point at__ some time._ But if anyone could sway Celia's emotions, it would be Marlin. Marlin is definitely Celia's biggest crush, and only crush at that. She'll never admit it, but the way she talks about him only insinuates that she is totally in love with him. She would never take my word for it though. I walked over to Celia, feeling a bit of sympathy for her.

"What's got you so worked up?" I asked sincerely, placing my hands on her shoulder. Celia looked up with me with genuinely upset eyes, then looked away and sighed. She walked to the side and I let my arms fall off her shoulders as she walked around me. I turned around to see her start to pace a bit.

"He wouldn't let me carry a couple sacks of seeds into the store, can you believe it?"

I raised a brow. "Are you... Serious?" She looked at me and nodded.

"Completely! It's so odd of him, isn't it?"

"Yeah." I said. "You do it all the time, what's so different now?"

"Well, he said he filled the bags with much more than he usually would to save space, so they were heavier."

"Mmm." I hummed. I brought up my hand to my chin, trying to figure out his logic behind it. "Okay, he's trying to keep you from straining yourself." I began. "How much heavier were they, do you know?" Celia looked at me little upset. Defending Marlin must make her think I'm completely on his side. "What?" I asked, shrugging. "I'm trying to put reason behind his actions!" She looked away and shook her head, before continuing.

"Only a couple of pounds heavier!" She exclaimed, pacing back and forth. "like I can't carry a pound or two!" She shook her head and stopped, took a breathe in then out, I suppose to bring her back a bit. "So, I insisted on carrying the sacks inside, and he said no again. He said it was heavier than I thought, saying that I already struggle with a normal sized bag, and it was raining so I might get a cold!" She threw arms up and dropped them, looking at me with confused and just a tinge of frustrated eyes.

"What happened after that?" I knew that wasn't the end of it, nor was it enough to push Celia into running over here to vent.

"We... We gotten to a heated discussion, and he ended up storming off into the rain." She shuffled her feet, looking out the window then down to her feet, I assume in embarrassment. I could already imagine the "heated" discussion between the two. Celia's voice sounded similar to that of a cute little girl, and it was even cuter when she got upset. Marlin probably argued back in the most calm but firm tone, maybe with a tinge of anger. I had seen him get upset before, and I've seen how he interacts with Celia. There was no way he would ever raise his voice at her, even by a note.

Nonetheless, I made a face. "Well geez, who does he think he is, your father? Two or three trips in this light drizzle and you wouldn't have gotten anything but a little wet."

She nodded sheepishly, her head still hanging. She was probably still upset about getting into an argument with Marlin.

"Hey, hey." I began. "Don't fret. I'll go talk to Marlin right now and everything will be fine, okay? Believe me, you're more upset with him then he is with you." I reassured her. "Have any idea where he might be?"

She looked up, sadness lightly staining her words. "At a time like this, probably in the Blue Bar."

"Alright then, head on home. I've done what I needed to do today, so I'll go have a little talk with him. Sit tight, he'll be back home in no time flat." I placed an arm around her, guiding her to the door and picking up her umbrella. "Here." I said, placing it in her hands.

She looked up at me and smiled warmly. "Thank you, Claire."

"Don't worry about it." I said as I with walked her to the main path.

When we arrived, she turned to me. "You're going to go on without an umbrella?" She asked. On the way to the main path I had been sharing with her, but now we had to split. Luckily, the rain had stopped to a drizzle once again.

I waved her dismissively with one hand. "I'll be fine, go on ahead."

"Alright Claire." Reluctantly, she let me go on my way before walking across the bridge to get home. It was not a far walk, I could even go as far to say Celia could have done this herself. But, it would be a better call if the person who didn't piss him off went to calm him down. I opened the doors to the Blue Bar, expecting the dark haired man to be sitting in the stools, drinking and shooting the breeze with Griffin. But when I did, I was graced with a completely different scene. A busty little blonde stood closely to Griffin, whose name I recall was Muffy, analyzing an unfolded piece of paper, rather worryingly, I might add. I walked in precariously, half expecting them to explain what had happened.

"Um, hello... Sorry to bother you, but by any chance... have you two seen Mar-" My timid question had been cut short by Griffin.

"Hello Claire." He did not wear his usual relaxed grin, but instead a serious and even worried glare. "You came at a good time."

I was taken aback. "I... I what? What are you talking about? What's going on?" I walked up to the bar, leaning against the counter. I was close enough to see the elegant handwriting scribbled on the paper. Muffy looked up from the letter, worry painted all over her face.

"We just received a notice from Phantom Skye."

I could've swore I felt my heart drop in the moment those two words escaped her lips. _Oh come on Claire._ I told myself. _Did you really think just because his majesty was getting __all__ buddy buddy with you meant he would ease up on the stealing?_ Even though I was telling myself that, I was a little angry at the things I was hearing myself say. I had walked over completely, now across from the two at the counter, his note in between.

"I'm going to bless your bar with my presence at midnight for a drink. – Phantom Skye." Griffin read aloud. I could feel the nails from my curled up fist digging into my palms as each word escaped from his lips. _What a blessing! Such a lovely blessing!_ I thought, wanting to roll my eyes in sarcasm. _Forget it Claire, this is your chance. The thing you've wanted since the very beginning – to catch him. _I could feel a devious smile begin to curl on my lips, and I had to nonchalantly bring up a hand to my face and turn my head to hide it. E_xactly! Couldn't have asked for a better chance. With the three of us, there's no way we will fail. Maybe I'll even turn the tables and even flirt back._ I nodded, pretending to be listening to everything Griffin and Muffy were saying, before I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks. _Whoa__whoa__, wait a minute? Flirt back?! Yeah, definitely not. There's no way I could ever do that!_ I mentally gagged, but the blush on my cheeks did not fade.

"...So do you have sometime tonight, Claire? We could really use some help catching that arrogant thief."

Muffy's silky voice brought me back to reality. I stood up straight, blinking and shaking my head as I looked up at them. "O-Oh, of course!"

"Thank you, Claire! We're depending on you!" Muffy beamed, placing her hands on top of mind and squeezing them gently with joy.

"I hope you don't mind. I appreciate it" Griffin added. "We need you here from 10 to 12 tonight."

I looked over at him, awkwardly pulling my hands away from Muffy's and nodding timidly.

"Y-yeah, can do!"

* * *

Something wasn't clicking. In the back of my mind, no matter how much I tried to ignore it, it just wouldn't click. I had spent the entire rest of the day ignoring it, and now that it was ten-thirty, I decided I should head on out and mull things over. But there wasn't anything too complicated to it. Thieves _steal_. And that was that.

I never did find Marlin, nor did I go look for him after the Blue Bar ordeal. I took myself straight home, and took a nap to rid my mind of my real life problems.

But they're back now.

It still rained, but the light drops didn't really bother me. I stood in front of the bar's entrance, hesitating to grab the door handles and pull them open. I felt so apprehensive about what I would find behind these two doors. I took a deep breath, letting my nerves settle a bit, before grabbing both door handles and pulling them open. I walked quickly, slowing down to a halt when I saw the bar was... empty.

Griffin and Muffy were behind the counter, having what seemed to me a casual conversation. I (unintentionally) made a dramatic entrance when I swung both doors open, and the two turned their heads to look at me as soon as I walked in. The sudden attention I brought to myself made my cheeks burn.

"I-I... Um..."

Muffy's curious stare instantly turned into an excited smile, as if she wasn't expecting me to show. "Oh, Claire! So good of you to come!" She beamed.

Griffin glanced at Muffy's overly joyful smile before looking at me once again. "The Phantom's not here yet."

"I see." Was all I managed to say.

I walked timidly towards the counter, still lingering with embarrassment. _Geez Claire, you couldn't have shown up a bit later?_ I thought. _What made me think I needed this much time to figure things out?_ Speaking of which, I never actually did sort through my thoughts. Just reminding myself that Skye was going to steal tonight gave me a choking feeling in my throat.

"So, you got a plan, Claire?" Griffin asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I looked up and blinked, shaking my head. "O-oh, um... Not exactly." I stuttered. "I was thinking one of use can go wait outside, while someone else-"

I was cut off by Muffy's sniffing. "Mmm-mmm…Why do I smell Curry?" She sniffed the air once again, walking out from behind the bar and slowly walking to the entrance.

Griffin sniffed the air as well, and followed shortly behind Muffy. "Yes! That smells so good!" He exclaimed, catching up to Muffy as they headed for the door together.

_C-Curry?!_

Could it possibly be... Skye? But it's too early, there no way it could be him. "H-Hey, wait! Where are you guys-"

But I was too late, and I received the sound of a slammed door in response. "God dammit, Claire!" I muttered angrily to myself. I was stuck. This was all part of Skye's plan. If I went after them, he could easily slide right in and take what he needed. There was no doubt he was definitely here. I could feel my heart pound against my chest. "O-Okay..." I mumbled to myself. "I can do this. It's fine. If anything I'll scream as loud as I can and they'll come rushing in, right?" Despite my self reassurances, my heartbeat did not slow one bit.

"Talking to ourselves now, are we?"

I froze. I could feel the chills run all the way up my body, and my heart leaped to my throat. _No no no._ I thought. _This has to be a dream._ But when I heard that familiar chuckle, I knew it couldn't be anything else but reality. I quickly spun around, and my heart leaped again, as he was standing – _way_ too close – to me.

"We meet again, my darling Claire. Do you believe that fate has drawn us together?" He smirked.

I jumped back. "W-wha?! How did you?!"

_Stop it, Claire. Get a grip!_

I shook my head. This was only Skye, the man who's stupid enough to leave a note before he steals from someone. I took a deep breath before I crossed my arms and glared at him. "Your RSVP was highly appreciated." I began, sarcasm dripping off of each word. "But I'm afraid it's going to be your last. You might have fooled everyone else up until now, but keep in mind who you're messing with."

The anger in me must've finally reached it's boiling point, because I was definitely saying and doing things I wouldn't do if I were calm. My eyes narrowed, and I stepped forward. I don't know what made me think Skye would be intimidated by anyone he had to look down at, as I was significantly shorter than him, but it didn't stop me from getting right in his face. I could his cheeks just barely blush through my narrowed eyes. _Whoa__, is he actually?!..._ I couldn't verify it, though, as he turned his head off to the side.

"It's going to be that way, isn't it? Like I said, Am I really that easy to figure out?" I blinked. I could not get over what I actually saw, which caused my anger to subside a bit. I stepped back, re-imagining what I just saw. _There's__ no way I actually made Phantom Skye blush. Was he actually blushing?_ I blinked again, before my expression hardened. _No, there's no way. He probably self taught himself how to blush on command to use in his female encounters_.

He chuckled once again. "Anyway, I wonder if you could hold still for a moment." He turned his head towards me, his brows furrowed. He looked me head on, anger filled eyes with just a glint of deviousness. He stepped towards me, balling his hand into a fist.

My heart dropped again. _No no no._ I thought to myself. _There's__ no way he'd..._ I stepped back, but every step I took back only made step closer. I shut my eyes, fearing the worst. _Oh god! I knew he was a thief but I didn't think he'd be a –_

"CHICK-BEAM…FIRE!"

_..__Huh?_ I opened my eyes, blinking. Did he just say chick-beam fire? I sucked in my lips, a blush creeping onto my face, trying to suppress a laugh. "W-What did you just say?!" I bit my lip in an effort to hold back the huge smile that was about to creep on my face.

His mischievous grin fell into a frown, and his brow twitched. I could hear him exhale through his nose in exasperation before walking towards the bar.

"Whoa, whoa. Where do you think you're-" I tried to step forward, but my legs were stiff, and my feet seemed glued in place. _What?..._ I tried to move my arms, hands, and fingers, but nothing helped. _Did he just cast a spell on me?!_

"Skye!" I spat out angrily. "What the hell have you done to me?!"

He was already behind the bar, standing right in front of the wine cabinet. He glanced at me from the side before grinning and shaking his head. "Heh. Just relax. You'll be able to move again in a while."

"Relax?!" I growled. "Relax?! You MUST be joking! Skye, I might not know where you live, but I know where you're at every night. Not only can I pound your face in, I could have you arrested! You should know better than to-"

He smirked and chuckled again. "Oh can you? So why haven't you?" He rummaged through the cabinets, scanning them up and down.

I held my tongue. _Why haven't __I__..._

"That's what I thought." I didn't know what to do. Muffy and Griffin still hadn't returned, and I was frozen stiff. I heard wine bottles clink as Skye continued to look through the cabinets. I could literally do nothing. I refused to sit here and watch him do what I desperately wanted him to stop doing. So I did the only other thing I could do.

"Why are you a thief?"

Skye was pulling out wine bottles, reading the labels, then putting them back. He was in the process of reading the label when I spoke. He paused at the sound of my voice, and turned to look at me. His eyes showed a bit of confusion, but he quickly shook it off by smirking. "I honestly don't know why." He turned towards the cabinet and placed the bottle back.

"It's just for fun?"

He walked over to the shelves. When I spoke again, he didn't turn to look at me. Instead, he hung his head, shaking it and chuckling "That might be it. And that might not be it."

I made a face._ Really?_ I thought. Y_ou really couldn't come up with a better response then that?_ Nonetheless, I continued. "What do you mean?"

He stopped looking through the shelves and cabinets, and held a wine bottle in his hand. He turned in my direction and chuckled, brushing his hair out of his face. "You want to know more about me, don't you? But if I simply tell you, it'll take the mystique out of our relationship." He walked out from behind the bar, and towards me. My heart started to pound again as he got dangerously close to me. He placed his free hand under my chin, looking down at me and smirking. "If you can catch me… I'll tell you anything you want."

I felt heat rise to my cheeks, and my expression hardened. "You're -so- lucky I can't move." I muttered angrily through clenched teeth.

That's when I heard muffled voice coming from outside.

"That's odd. I could have sworn that great smell was coming from here."

"Yeah. Let's go back to the shop."

He smirked at me, before dropping his hand from my face. "Sorry, but I'm bit pressed for time. Gotta jet!" He walked around me, heading for the door.

_C__'__mon guys._ _I thought. If you just hurry up you can still catch him! _The door creaked open, before falling and slamming shut.

The room fell completely silent.

_Dammit..._ I thought. _It__'__s already too late._ Just I was ready to scream and call for them to hurry, I stumbled to the side, regaining control over my body. _Perfect! Maybe I'm fast enough, I can still..._ I turned around and headed quickly towards the door, but they were pulled open before I reached them.

It was Muffy and Griffin.

I stopped. I couldn't help but think if this was how easily manipulated all the other town folks were, that it might be the reason Skye's always managed to get away. I was upset, but It was no use. Skye had already gotten away. "Where were you guys? Skye already came and left!" _Shit. _I thought, instantly regretting my choice of words. I had accidentally called him by his first name, which earned me a raised brow from Muffy.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but Griffin beat her to it. "What? The Phantom was here?!"

"He just left a little while ago." I had the urge to scold them for being so foolish. "You know, you two really didn't need to –"

"It's true! The Okuhattan is gone!" Muffy had already went behind the bar and scanned through all the cabinets and shelves. How in the world did she already find out what was missing when it took Skye fifteen minutes to find and steal it?

"Are you okay, Claire?" Griffin asked, with worried and somewhat apologetic eyes.

I was glad I wasn't hotheaded, otherwise I would have snapped on these two a long time ago. "Yeah..." I folded my arms, turning away from him. "I'm fine. I'm sorry I couldn't catch him for you, he froze me in place."

Muffy looked at me, wide eyed with her jaw dropped. "Wait! You were paralyzed by the Phantom's magic spell!?" She blinked rapidly, almost as she didn't actually believe that Skye had magic powers._ I didn't even know he -had- powers..._

"That's the Phantom for you…" Griffin added. "His gears are always turning."

"Yeah well, I'm glad I caught you two." I began. "I was just on my way home."

"Look Claire, we really are sorry that-"

But I didn't let Muffy finish. "No no, it's fine. Really, it is. I'm just... exhausted, so I'd like to get home as soon as possible." Muffy looked at me apologetic eyes. I saw her shift her eyes towards Griffin and shoot him a look before shaking her head towards the door, signaling him to escort me out, like it was the least he could do.

Griffin quickly got the hint and turned besides me, throwing his arm around my shoulder. "Go home and get a good night's rest Claire. Thanks for all of your help." He led me towards the door, pushing it open. He was greeted with a flash of lightning and a roar of thunder. "Oh dear, looks like it's pouring out." He dropped his arm off me and turned to look at Muffy. "Hey Muffy, do you think we have a spare umbrella we could lend –"

"I-It's alright!" I interjected. Griffin looked back at me, a bit surprised by my sudden outburst. I couldn't help but look down and hide the blush that was burning on my cheeks. "It's fine. I'll be fine." Was all I said to the two before I pulled my rucksack over my head and ran home.

The rain was showering down on me, and in no time I was completely soaked, my rucksack offering absolutely no protection from the rain.

When I finally reached home, I stopped in front of the door. I dropped and kicked the rucksack aside in anger. I was furious. Why would he DO such a thing?! Figures that magic was the only way he could be above anyone in this town. That was it, I was done. No more secret meetings with this silly thief, he's drawn the line.

Tomorrow night, this thief will be put to justice.

* * *

******Author's Notes:** Wow lots of people getting interrupted in this chapter. sorrynotsorry


	5. Secrets & Stories

**Author's Notes: **Are you ready for what's about to happen? I think so. :D Anyways, I'll try my best as always. I don't really have much to say about this chapter without ruining it. Well, enjoy!

** Fixed Claire's background. Turns out her father's dead.

* * *

_**Thursday**_

I woke up later than usual. And it was all because of that stupid idiot. I had been waiting at the Goddess pond for the past 2 nights and he hadn't appeared. Celia came at the usual time to help me with the chickens.

I yawned and closed my eyes as I began to pour the chicken's food.

"Uh... Claire?"

I'm not sure how I would react. Would I kill him? Curse him out maybe? Break down into tears? Wait; what the hell?

"Claire?"

Either way, I understand why he's been hiding. He's scared of me. He should be!

"Claire!"

"Huh?" I jumped as I let go of the empty bag.

"You spaced out and poured all the food!" She helped put them all back into the bag.

"I'm sorry, Celia! I haven't been thinking lately!" I yawned. "And I've been so tired…" I blinked and continued putting most of the food back in the bag.

"Have you been staying up late? That's bad for your skin, Claire." She said.

"It's all because of something that happened Monday. I could tell you… but it's a long story." I yawned again.

"It's alright; you're not obligated to tell me anyways." She smiled.

I felt a little guilty not telling Celia about Skye, but c'mon! How would she react if she found out her friend is meeting up with the thief that robbed Lumina and the Blue Bar? I'd be pretty pissed.

Or at least, _was_ meeting up with the thief.

I stretched as Celia had already gathered all the eggs to put in the shipping bin.

"Wait! Celia!" I yelled.

"Yes Claire?" She looked back at me.

"How about you put one in the incubator? I'll let you name it, too." I smiled. It's the least I could do.

"Really? Thank you Claire! That's so kind of you!" She smiled as she rushed off to the incubator to set it down.

"It's nothing; it's the least I could do for all your help." I said.

She smiled at me. "I'm glad we became friends."

I smiled back. "I'm glad we did."

* * *

I don't know why I was here. I don't know why I was still coming here. I don't know why I didn't give up. I honestly don't know why.

But I was.

I looked at the pond, then my watch. It had just turned to midnight. I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Waiting for me, possibly?"

I jumped and did the same thing as last time; grab the nearest rock and flung it at Skye's head.

"OW!" I heard from behind me.

I turned around to face him and was about to strangle him.

"Give me 3 good reasons why I shouldn't kill you!" I screamed.

I tried to reach for his head; something! But the bastard was just too fast and strong. He kept me from leaving a mark.

"First off, what the hell is wrong with you, literally? Some stupid beam or magic spell or whatever! I don't care! Do it to me again and you won't have a pretty face anymore!" I screamed.

"I thought you said you wouldn't fall for anything I had up my sleeve." He smirked.

I growled. The smirk only irritated me! "Smirk like that one more time, and I'll slap you halfway across the world!" I threatened.

"And why haven't you been showing up?" I asked violently as I continued to try and strangle him.

"It shouldn't matter to you, unless… You missed me?" He smirked again and chuckled.

I growled. "That's it!" I started to throw punches but he just grabbed my arms and I tried to wriggle out of his grasp.

I blushed. "I-I didn't miss you at all, you stupid idiot! You were hiding from me, weren't you?"

He chuckled again. "Why would I hide from such a beautiful maiden? That's not why I wasn't coming."

My blush became more visible. "Then why haven't you?"

"It's been raining." He simply remarked.

I was literally about to slap him; if he didn't have both my arms.

"Well, thank you for the weather report, idiot. What? Don't tell me you're afraid of a little rain?"

"It's not that, I just don't like the rain."

"But it was raining on Monday!" I shouted.

"Yeah, But I was going in the rain for a reason."

I groaned. "You're so hypocritical, Skye. And that's not even a good reason! That was a criminal act!" I crossed my arms. "Why would you need Okuhattan, anyway? Some of the things you steal aren't really necessary unless you're making money off of it…" I thought for a bit. "Are you making money off of it?"

He nodded. "I'm not answering any of your questions, Claire. I told you, if you can catch me. I'll tell you whatever you want to know.

I growled. "Stupid!" I hit him and pouted.

He just chuckled.

I grabbed his arm. "There, I caught you. Answer my question!"

He chuckled again. "You'll catch me one day." He smiled.

I groaned. "Here!" I shoved the plate of curry in his face.

"Didn't you come here to rip off my face? Now you're giving me curry?"

"Shut up, okay? It was by force of habit. I made it then I remembered I was mad at you. Celia didn't want it so I decided to give it to you anyway. Are you going to take it or am I going to have throw it in the Goddess pond?" I threatened.

"Thank you." He simply said and took the curry.

He shook his head. "Honestly, Claire. You are so strange."

"Hey!" I snapped. "I am not strange! I've just been so used to it! It's a bad habit! I shouldn't even been making you curry at all! I hate you!"

"I like you too, Claire." He smirked.

"Don't throw that word around, you stupid bum!" I growled.

"I wasn't throwing it around, I really meant it." He smiled.

I rolled my eyes. "Sure you did." And I punched him.

He chuckled. "You are certainly different than the rest, aren't you?"

"Are you insulting me again?" I growled.

He nodded. "It's not an insult, it's a compliment."

"Then stop complimenting me!" I snapped.

He sighed. "Then what am I supposed to do? I can't do anything, can I?"'

I nodded. "I don't want you complimenting me! How many times have you used that one, before?"

"Once, and It was on a blonde, named Claire. You're unique, Claire..."

I rolled my eyes. Why are you talking about me, you stupid nitwit? I sighed. I was going to listen to his speech, then laugh.

"Most girls fall for me by the first look, you insulted me the first time we met, remember? You might have thought I was good-looking, but you ignored my compliment the first time we met, you were more worried of who I was since you hadn't seen me around. You didn't completely melt like Lumina did. You're something else…"

"Is that another compliment?" I asked.

"It's more like a fact." He said, and chuckled.

I didn't believe him for a minute. Who was he really trying to kid?

"Though…I should've kept it to myself, I had a feeling you'd react the way you did." He mumbled.

"Yes, keep your womanizing thoughts to yourself!" I growled. "They don't work on me; I honestly don't know why you even try!"

He shrugged and chuckled.

"Well Claire, You really aren't like the rest... I'd like to hear little bit more about you." He said as he leaned against the Goddess tree.

I was dumbfounded.

"What? You'd waste your time to learn more about _me_?" I asked, confused.

"I wouldn't say 'waste'. I want to _spend_ time learning about you." He smiled warmly.

A blush smeared across my face. Then I shook my head violently and realized it was another one of his womanizing tricks.

I rolled my eyes. "Why?"

He chuckled. "I'm pretty sure I've repeated myself, but your different then the rest. Your unique. It's easy to predict your actions when I say the usual, But I don't know your way of thinking. I can't figure you out."

I stood there quietly.

"Why'd you come out here to take up that run-down farm?" He asked, looking up at me.

We stood there in silence for a while, looking at each other. I walked towards him and sat next to him. After he saw me sit down, He did the same.

"Well..." I began, bringing my legs up, resting my chin on my knees, and hugging my legs.

"My father used to own the farm. My mother hated farm life, but she loved my father. Since she refused to live on farm, she lived in the city. We'd visit him in the summer, and he'd visit us during the winter, since nothing usually grew during that time of year. I loved being with my father. I remember I spent a year living with my father, during my freshman year. I loved the ranch so much, my father would always let me ride the horse, he'd let me play with the ducks, feed the animals, pet them, and basically care for them."

"You really loved it, didn't you?" He smiled.

"Yeah, I did. I also loved my father. My mother was a strict woman, She was punctual. She was a very serious woman and hoped that I would grow up as a successful business woman, just like her. I hated business though, but I listened to her. I loved my father more because he was laid-back, he liked to pull pranks on me and joke around. After my father died, my mother was devastated. If it wasn't for my encouragement, she would of lost her job. It was the first time I had ever seen her like that. After a month, she sent me here. She told me that my career was influenced by her, and she wanted me to be happy, so she sent me here."

"I see... I'm really sorry for your loss, Claire." He apologized.

"Yeah well, It's been pretty hard work. My mother's coming to visit next month to check on the farm. Like I said... My mother's a strict woman." I sighed. I was going to get an earful from mom next month.

He chuckled. "I'm sure things will get better if you work hard."

"Yeah." I sighed again.

He stood up, then stretched out a hand to help me up. I grabbed his hand and got up.

"C'mon. It's late, I'll walk you home." He smiled.

A light blush appeared across my cheeks as we stood there looking at each other again. Then it took us a while before we realized we were holding hands.

"Oh!" We said in unison.

"Sorry." He chuckled and dropped my hand.

We walked side by side next to each other. Not saying another word.

We reached the ranch.

"Well..." I said. "This is my ranch."

He looked around. "You really suck at hard labor, don't you?" He smirked.

"S-Shut up!" I pushed him. "You can leave now!"

He chuckled.

"At least I can pick up a hammer! Unlike you!" I pouted angrily.

He began to laugh.

"Why are you laughing? It's not funny, stupid!" I stomped, furiously.

Now he was laughing out of control.

"Skye!" I whined. "Stop laughing!"

He tried to catch his breath.

"Your... Your so cute... when your angry!" He chuckled.

I growled. "You can go now!" I began to push him towards the exit.

He continued laughing, though not as much as before.

"Goodbye!" I said as I rolled my eyes.

"Wait, Your just going to kick me out? Without a proper goodbye?" He asked and turned around to look at me. "Yeah, That's right!" I continued to push him out.

He began to lean on me, making it hard to push him. "How could you kick _me_ out?" He said, as he leaned back more.

"S-Skye!" I said, struggling to push him forward. "Stop it!"

"Stop what?" He said stupidly.

"Stop... leaning... on... me!" I gasped and stop pushing him forward.

I closed my eyes as we fell. When I opened them, He was looking straight at me, his arms pinned above my head to keep his weight off of me.

We both blushed.

Then I blinked and pushed on his chest. "Get off of me, you stupid bum!" I yelled.

"I'm sorry! I'll get off!" He quickly got up and stretched out his hand to help me up.

I slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me! I'll get up myself!" I stood up and brushed off the dirt.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that." He chuckled.

"W-Whatever! Just go! Goodbye!" I said, folding my arms.

"Good night, Claire." He said as he walked the path to town.

I still had a pretty noticeable blush across my cheeks as I walked back to my home.

Could I be seeing the real side of Phantom Skye?

* * *

**Author's Notes: **HOLY SHIT! This is a long chapter! 2,357 words! I'm so proud of myself! Finally! A little bit more about Claire's background. I also put some cute moments in there. R&R Please!


	6. Cooking & Cookies

**Author's Notes: **Well, On to the 6th Chapter. I can't really say a lot. Enjoy!

* * *

_**Friday**_

I opened my eyes to the sound of someone knocking on my door.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" A voice said. It took me a while to realize it was Celia knocking on my door. I stretched and yawned. Why is Celia here so early in the morning?

Then I stared at my clock. "Crap!" I quickly got up and opened the door.

"Hey Celia!" I said. She looked at me and giggled. "Did you oversleep again?" I blinked. "Is it that obvious?" I asked. "Well, when your hair is a mess and you still aren't dressed, It's pretty easy to tell that you overslept." She said.

I rushed to the nearest mirror and blushed. My hair was a total mess!

Celia giggled again. She grabbed the brush on my drawer and brushed my hair. "You have pretty hair, Claire... How come you always wear it down?" She asked.

"Well..." I began. "I figured that it'd be better to leave it down. I'm not too good with styling my hair anyways." I admitted.

"Well, I was thinking. After I help you with the farm, you want to walk around town and just hang out? The others said that I could have this day off." She said, putting the brush down. "Sure! Why not? I have nothing to do during the day anyway." I stated.

"During the day? What do you do at night?" She asked. I bit my lip. I couldn't possibly tell her the truth, what should I say? "Well I... I just walk around town and stuff. The usual." I said, looking at the floor. When I built the courage to look at her, she had a skeptical look on her face.

"Claire... Are you a drinker?" She asked, putting her hand on my shoulder. "W-What? No! I don't drink!" I stuttered. Is that what she thinks I do?

"Oh! Sorry... I didn't mean it like that." She apologized. "It's okay, It's what you would expect from someone who stays up all night." I said. "Well, let's go! The chickens' aren't going to feed themselves!" She said cheerfully, as she rushed towards the door.

"Unfortunately..." I mumbled.

"I'll wait in the barn while you get dressed." She said as she closed the door and walked away.

* * *

After taking care of the farm, Celia and I walked around the the town a couple of times. After a while, we crossed the bridge that leaded us to Vesta's farm. "Celia!" Marlin called. Celia turned to look at him. "Oh, Hello Marlin, how's it going so far without me?" She asked.

"Well, Vesta needs you, She's out on the fields tending the crops." He said. "But I thought today I was free." She stated.

"Not anymore... Sorry Celia, I know how much you wanted to be with Claire today, but we really need you." He apologized.

"Alright." She turned to looked at me. "I'm sorry Claire." She said. I shrugged. "It's alright, do what you need to do. See you tomorrow!"

"See ya!" She said, walking away with Marlin.

I turned around and headed back towards the Main Area. I wonder what Skye is doing right now... Wait, what?

I looked up just to see Rock a couple of inches away.

"Whoa! Didn't see you there, Claire. Sorry, I'll watch where I'm going next time." He said, laughing at his mistake. "Hey Rock, where are you headed?" I asked. "To the Goddess pond." He replied.

"Really? Me too." I lied. I didn't feel like being alone, and Celia was the only person I talked to.

"Cool. Let's walk together." He said, as we walked the path to the Goddess pond.

"Hey, don't you have work to do or anything?" I asked. I always saw Rock going to the beach or the Goddess pond, but I never saw him working. "Course not, I can't stand work. I probably wouldn't last one day on the farm." He said and smiled.

He was irresponsible, but easy-going.

I shook my head at him. "What?" He asked. "What are you going to do with yourself? You can't live the easy life forever!" I scolded.

He shrugged then laughed. "Guess not. But why get so worked up about it? I'll just enjoy life the way it is."

"I wish I could be like you, without a care in the world." I sighed heavily. "You just need to relax more." He said. "But there's a bunch of things that need to get done! How could you relax?" I asked, a little puzzled.

We stopped as we reached the Goddess pond.

"Easy. Like this." He leaned against the tree.

I folded my arms. "That won't work for everything!" I scolded. "You need to relax, Claire. Just enjoy the atmosphere."

I sighed. "Right..."

"You're really tense. Is something bothering you? A boy maybe?" He teased lightly.

A blush appeared across my face. "N-No! Of course not!" I retorted. He started to laugh. "Oh! So that's it? What's his name?" He asked. "Listen here! I don't have boy problems!" I said angrily.

"Then why did you blush?" He asked. My blush became more visible. "Because it's an embarrassing topic for me!" I stated.

"If It wasn't true, you would've rolled your eyes at me and came up with a comeback. You would blush and defend yourself if you weren't sure about a certain someone." He said, smiling.

"And how would you know that?" I asked, folding my arms.

"I just do." He said.

I rolled my eyes. Not sure about someone? Could he be talking about Skye? Well, indirectly, of course. No! I know how I feel about Skye! I hate him! But lately...

My blush darkened, and Rock noticed instantly.

"Thinking about him?" He teased. "No! I'm not! Forget this! I'm leaving!" I stormed off.

He chuckled. "Later, Claire."

"Goodbye!" I shouted as I left the Goddess pond.

Was there really anything to think about?

* * *

It was 7pm, and I was with Celia cooking curry for Skye. Since I was bad at cooking, I usually just passed her the ingredients she asks me for. "So Claire, you must really like curry if you make it everyday." She said. "Oh no. It's not for me." I blurted out. Wait! I wasn't supposed to tell her that!

"Really? Who's it for then?" She asked curiously. I tried to think of a lie as quick as I could. "Okay... I lied. It's for me... I just didn't want to say anything because I didn't want you to think I was...o-overweight." I cringed. I hate talking about my weight, which would probably make my lie more believable.

"Oh... It's okay Claire." She winked. "Your secret is safe with me!" Then she giggled. "Hey Claire, why don't you cook?" She said as she finished the curry.

"Me? Cook? Do you want me to burn this place down?" I said, a little shocked.

"Oh come on! Try something like cookies! You could give them to that someone special..." She said, nudging me.

I blushed. I couldn't possibly imagine myself giving Skye cookies!

"I'd r-rather not..." I stuttered. "Please Claire? You can't be that bad at cooking! Come on just try!"

"Alright... I'll try."

After an hour of trying to make cookies, I finally finished.

I sighed heavily. "Celia..." I began. "These cookies are misshaped! And some of them are burnt! I can't possibly give these to anyone!" I complained.

"Trust me Claire, It's fine. It's the thought that counts!" Celia glanced over at the clock. "Oh! Look at the time! You should get going, and I need to go do something really quick! You finish here, I'll be right back to let you out." She rushed into another room.

While she was gone, I grabbed a small plastic bag, ribbon and a small card. I put the cookies in the bag, tied it shut, and used the rest of the ribbon to attach the card to it. Before I did so, I grabbed a pen and scribbled 'to Skye' on the card.

Celia came back, and she opened the door. "I'll see you tomorrow Claire! Good night!" She said.

I grabbed my things and headed out the door. "Good night Celia, thanks for letting me cook in your kitchen."

"Your welcome! See ya!" She said, and closed the door.

I looked at the bag of cookies, and I thought about how Skye's reaction would be. I hid the bag in my pocket and headed to the Goddess pond.

I waited there for about 4 hours, until Skye finally appeared.

"Hello beautiful." He said.

I turned around to see Skye. "Here you go." I said, and handed him the plate of curry.

"Why thank you, beautiful maiden." He chuckled. I punched him playfully. "Shut up!" I said.

"Hmm? What's this?" He said, as he noticed the ribbon sticking out of my pocket. He pulled it out.

"H-Hey! Don't take those!" I blushed. He wasn't supposed to see those! Hopefully he doesn't read the card. But I had to stop him, so I tried snatching the bag back.

But that stupid thief held it over my head and read the card.

"Skye! G-Give it back to m-me you stupid thief!" I stuttered as I tried to retrieve the bag.

"To Skye? So you made me cookies? And here I thought you had no feelings for me." He chuckled.

I blushed and crossed my arms. "F-Fine! I made you cookies. Sorry they're misshapen, and some of them are burnt." I looked at the pond. The last thing I wanted to do was look at his face.

"I see..." He chuckled. I built up the courage to look him in the face. When he saw my face, he began to laugh.

"Claire... Your as red as a tomato." He chuckled. "S-Shut up, Idiot!" I pouted.

"Is it really that embarrassing?" He said, as he untied the ribbon and took a cookie.

"No! Skye, don't eat that one!" I said, as I tried to snatch it from him. He simply chuckled as he held it over my head again. "Why not? What's wrong with this one?"

"It's burnt and it looks weird!" I complained. He shrugged and ate the cookie.

I folded my arms. "Well?" I said. "It's great, I love it." He said, smiling. I rolled my eyes.

"Liar." I muttered.

"Hey, It's more surprising that you went out of your way to make _me _cookies." He chuckled. "I can't even believe it myself.." I said, looking off to the side.

"Well, thank you." He said. "Well, I'm going to have to leave early tonight. You've kept me up enough nights already, and it's hard keeping this a secret, you know."

"Your actually keeping this a secret?" He asked, a bit puzzled. "Yes! I'm not doing it _just _for you, how do you think the town would react if they found out I was meeting a thief every night?"

"But I'm not just _any_ thief, I'm the Prince of the Stars." He said, chuckling. I rolled my eyes. "You must have a lot of self-confidence." I stated.

"More than I know what to do with." He said. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow." I said as I walked the path to the Main Area.

I thought to myself for a bit.

How long could we keep this a secret?

* * *

**Author's Notes:** RAH. This took so long to write! Longer then usual, and I'm not sure whether this will start being the normal size of all my chapters. Hey, at least there's more Character development. And Rock! Yay! :D

I actually had a huge crush on Rock, I just thought he was so cute, and I loved his carefree nature. I thought it would fit with the plot as well. I also noticed that I've been ending the chapters with Claire's thoughts. Can anyone guess what the next chapter would be? I'll never tell ;)

Anyways, R&R!


	7. Blue Sea

**Author's Notes: **Well, I'm organizing my Author's Notes layout. I thought the way It looked before was sloppy. Sorry for the wait. This will be my favorite chapter! ^-^

* * *

_**Saturday**_

I was headed to the Waterfall Area to go mine. I had just found a tunnel the other day, and I wanted to dig around, and see what I'd find.

It was 8 o'clock when I saw Carter and Flora outside of their tent, discussing something that looked important.

"You came at a good time, Claire." Carter said to me. I was confused, until I looked over at Flora and saw her holding a note.

I immediately froze into shock. By the look on Flora and Carter's face, I already knew what they were going to say.

"A note came from Phantom Skye." Flora said. "At midnight..." Carter began. "I'll be helping myself to the valuables in your tent. Phantom Skye." He shook his head in disbelief. "That two-bit, good-for-nothing snake-in-the-grass of a thief." He remarked.

"Nice choice of words." I mumbled, folding my arms.

"We'll be set back for days if he takes our artifacts!" Flora said, in a worried tone. She was mostly looking at Carter.

"Okay..." I started. "What do you want me to do about it?" I asked.

"I have a plan! If you lend us a hand, we can catch that thief! What do you say?" Carter had a determined look on his face, while Flora looked desperate for help.

"Of course, I'll help." I said, nonchalantly. I already knew what Skye's intentions were, but now I knew his tricks.

"Thank you, Claire. Thank you so much!" Flora smiled.

"Glad to hear it! We'll be waiting in the tent. Come see us between 10 and 12 tonight." Carter said.

"Alright, I'll be here." I nodded, walking away.

When I was out of sight, near Vesta's farm, I let out a scream in frustration. I threw my rucksack on the ground and kicked it.

After tonight, I decided to stop these secret meetings and tell everyone the truth. I promised myself that I would get him caught.

I had lost complete hope that he was actually capable of change.

As the clock struck 10, I headed towards the Waterfall area for the second time today.

I stopped myself. Why would I every think that Skye was capable of change? What possible made me think he could actually be something more than a womanizing no-good thief?

I really need to get it together.

* * *

I walked into the tent. "Hey, I'm here." I greeted.

"Thanks for coming. The thief isn't here yet. We'll have to wait a bit longer." He said.

That's just like Skye, always making late appearances.

"Well, let's just wait here."

An hour had passed and I was ready to give up and go home. Flora was the first to break the silence.

"Phantom Skye still hasn't shown up. Maybe he forgot about that note he sent." Flora said, wondering.

Suddenly, Carter jumped up. The expression on his face was so frightening, he looked angry.

"That dirty thief!" He shouted. "He could be stealing goods from the dig site at this very moment!"

Flora and I realized it quickly. We hadn't thought of that!

"Let's move, Flora! Claire, we need you to stay here just in case." He said to me as he headed outside with Flora.

I sighed heavily. What was going to do? Did Skye bluff about stealing anything?

I turned around and looked at the artifacts they had on a shelf. I started to hear rustling outside the tent and simply assumed it was Carter and Flora.

Then I heard a familiar chuckle. I quickly turned around to see Skye with his cocky smirk smeared across his face.

I took a step back, keeping my guard up.

"Don't be nervous. I won't use my magic here." He simply said, chuckling. "Your pretty cute when your defensive."

I rolled my eyes. "Why are you here?" I growled.

"I sent a note today, but there's only one thing I want to steal..." He said, smirking.

"I won't let you have it." I threatened.

"That's the thing about stealing things, Claire. I don't need your consent to take them." He chuckled and walked towards me.

"I'm warning you, Skye!" I shouted.

All of the sudden, I felt his arms embrace my waist, then I felt myself go up.

Skye had thrown me over his shoulder, like some sort of sack, and began to walk out of the tent.

A red blush smeared across my face. "Skye, What the hell are you doing?" I shouted. "I told you, there's only one thing I wanted to steal, and now I'm stealing it." He chuckled.

I had no idea where we headed, all I saw was the tent fading away with every step Skye took.

"I'm surprised you haven't yelled or called for help yet." He commented.

"Well, that was after I c-changed my mind..." I stuttered.

He chuckled. "Changed your mind? About?" He asked.

How could he be so oblivious? I really wanted to punch him! If only I wasn't hanging over his shoulder...

"About you, nitwit!" I yelled.

He chuckled. "Really? What were your original thoughts?"

I sighed. "I don't want to tell you.." I mumbled, a bit embarrassed. "Why not?" He continued asking.

"Okay! I'll tell you! I was planning on catching you... but I guess I really don't know your way of thinking." I was so glad that Skye couldn't see my face.

I heard him chuckle. "Well, we're here." He put me down. Right after he did, I pushed him.

"Don't you ever do that again! Stupid!" I shouted. It took me a while to realize where we were, and when I noticed the ocean, I gasped. The ocean looked surprisingly beautiful at night.

"Breathtaking, isn't it? Though, It's beauty is nothing compared to you..." He chuckled.

"Why did you bring me here?" I asked, ignoring his comment.

"You know, I pride myself in making curry, and I work hard at it day after day." He said.

Well, that explains the smell of his jacket.

"I gather various ingredients and taste curry made by many different people. But I can never seem to make the curry I'm going for. I've got the right flavor and all, but still it seems to miss something important." He looked at me. "What do you think it it?"

I blinked. I didn't want to possible ruin a serious moment with Skye, so I didn't dare ask him if he was actually being serious.

"Maybe.. You aren't cooking with love." I said, then quickly looked away. That was such a stupid response! Why did I say that?

He chuckled. "Love, huh?.." I nodded.

"You may be right. I've been so focused on flavor that I never thought about it." He looked at me and smiled.

It was strange. It wasn't like any other smile. I felt like I was the only person he trusted, the only one he could tell this to. I smiled back.

"I hope you'll try curry next time I make some." He said.

"I'd love to... Skye, can I ask you something?" I asked.

"Sure, what is it?" He looked at me. "How many people know this about you?"

"Only you. I hope you can keep all of it a secret." He said, smirking.

"I promise." I said.

He chuckled again. "Thanks for spending time with me tonight. I'd like to walk you back, but the other two are on the look out for me, you probably don't want to get caught with me. Good night, Claire." He said, walking away.

After he was out of sight, I ran to see if I could catch up with him. He was gone.

"How does he do that?" I mumbled.

* * *

"Did that thief come by?" Carter asked me.

I stayed quiet and simply nodded.

"There's no trace of anything missing at the dig site." He muttered.

"Well, cased closed then. Thanks for your help, Claire." Flora said.

I walked back home. I stretched and yawned.

Celia was right. Staying up late is bad for my skin.

* * *

**Author's Notes**: I absolutely LOVE this heart event! I think It's so cute how Skye just pours his heart out with someone he's falling in love with. It's absolutely cute.

R&R!


	8. Tsunderes & Titles

**Author's Notes: **Well, I have nothing much to say. Enjoy.

* * *

**_Sunday_**

I stretched and yawned when Celia came by again. It was the last day of spring and I had to harvest the crops. With the money, I would be able to get my house upgraded. My tools were

finally strong enough to clean up the farm.

"Claire! Wake up, we have to harvest the crops today!" Celia shouted, knocking on my door.

I groaned. I sat up and walked to the door, letting Celia in.

Celia folded her arms. "Claire, you need to stop staying up so late! Your farm would collapse if it wasn't for me coming around and waking you up!" She complained.

I yawned. "I'm sorry Celia, But I'm just so tired..." I replied as I began to walk out of the house.

She grabbed my arm. I looked back to see her pointing at the house, telling me to get inside. I sighed. "Why?" I whined.

"Because your hair is a mess, and friends don't let friends walk out of their house with a bird's nest in their hair." She stated, but then I soon saw a caring smile slowly melt on her face.

I nodded. "Alright, fine." I groaned as I walked in and sat down at my vanity as Celia began to brush my hair again.

"I could do it myself, you know." I said. "I know you can.." She replied. "So, have you heard about the thief?" Celia asked curiously.

I froze. "T-Thief?" I stuttered. "Yeah! I heard he stole from Lumina and the Blue Bar. He has a pretty face, but I hope he doesn't steal from us. That would be horrible!" She exclaimed, a little worried.

I looked at the ground. Was Skye becoming that famous? I needed to get it together, this was getting serious, and I had to convince Skye to stop stealing, to keep him from getting caught... Wait a minute, Why should I care? It was Skye's fault, he should take the consequences!

"I doubt that thief would steal from you, I think his time here is done." I reassured her. She looked at me puzzled. "Are you sure about that? It's not like you talk to him everyday or anything, so how would you know?" She asked as she let go of my hair.

I stood up and grabbed Celia's wrist and walked out of the house. I led her to the crops as we began to pick up all the vegetables and fruits, transferring them to the shipping bin.

"I just do." I said, answering Celia's question.

* * *

I was headed to the beach, to meet Rock. I had been meeting Rock since last week, and I felt like we were getting closer. At least at had one more friend to rely on, though Rock's care-free attitude continued to anger me.

"Hey Rock." I greeted as I walked towards him. His usual place was located next to a stand. I had been here a month and not once have I seen someone occupying this stand.

"Hi Claire, how's life on the farm? Pretty tiring, huh?" He teased lightly.

"Shut up!" I retorted. I looked over at the stand again, and decided to ask Rock a question. "What's this stand for? I haven't seen anyone here for a month!" I remarked.

"Well, Claire. This is Kai's stand. He sells food and drinks in the summer. Only in the summer though. When summer is over, he returns to Mineral Town." He informed me.

"That's pretty stupid." I muttered to myself.

"Your pretty stupid, Claire. You can't even figure out your feelings." He scoffed.

I blushed and pouted. Rock had been on the topic of my love life for the past week, and It was rather irritating. "For your information, I do have my feelings figured out! The difference is, I have none for anyone!" I shouted at him.

"So, when am I going to meet this Mystery man?" He asked, raising a brow.

I froze. "M-Mystery man?" I stuttered.

Rock began to laugh uncontrollably. "Did you see your expression? Completely priceless!" He said, in between chuckles.

"Rock!" I snapped. "That's not funny!" I looked away. All Rock liked to do was seem me blush and stutter. He got a kick out of it.

"I couldn't help it! Your so easy! I could make you blush so easily!" he said, laughing.

I rolled my eyes. "Why do I keep coming here and meeting up with you? Your so annoying!" I shouted.

"I don't know." He stated, as he stopped laughing. "Why do you keep coming here?" He asked, with a smug smile.

I didn't want to get angry at him or blush, because I knew if I did he would start laughing, which would just make the situation worse. So instead, I responded in my most nonchalant and care-free voice.

"I don't know." I said, shrugging. I look at him and saw that his expression was baffled.

I began to laugh. "You should of seen _your _face!" I said, almost falling over from laughing so hard.

"Well, It's just strange! Typical tsun-dere's don't reply like that!" He said, still a bit dazed.

I stopped laughing immediately. "What did you call me?" I asked.

"Strange?" He repeated.

"No! After that!" I shouted.

"Tsun-dere?" He repeated again.

I blushed. "I am n-not a tsun-dere!" I stuttered.

He began to laugh again. The bastard! He turned the tables on me! "That's something a tsun-dere would say." He smirked.

I crossed my arms. "Is that what you consider me?" I asked.

"Well, that's basically what I meant when I said, I know your 'type'." He teased.

I blushed. Now he's stereotyping me? Oh great.

"Let's see... Tsun-dere's usually end up with the nice guy... so someone like... Kai?" He thought to himself.

I blushed. "Listen here, idiot! I am not in love with anyone! I don't even know Kai!" I shouted.

"You will tomorrow." He said.

I looked at the beach. It was getting a little late, so I thought It would be a good time to leave. "Whatever! I'm gonna get going, I have responsibilities to take care of, unlike_ someone_ I know." I said, emphasizing my words.

He simply chuckled. "You should try relaxing." He teased.

"You should try a job." I retorted and rolled my eyes.

I walked the path that led me out of the beach. I looked back to see him doing nothing, as always. There was something that I was curious about, but I really didn't want Rock to know, otherwise he'd tease me for it.

But I was really looking forward to meeting Kai.

* * *

I really wasn't sure how to react to Skye's 'stealing'.

He didn't really steal anything, so how could I scold him? In fact, How should react to the whole situation? He bluffed just to spend time with me.

I shook my head. I couldn't say it was another one of Skye's womanizing tricks, because he told me something that he hadn't told anyone. I could go around the whole town and ask, but no one knows Skye's tricks like I do. No one knows what Skye loves to make and eat like I do...

No one _knows_ him like I do.

And as painful as it is to admit it, No one knows me like Skye does.

I sighed. It was an unhealthy friendship, or at least I thought it was. Wait... Do I already consider Skye a _friend_? That was a question I couldn't answer.

I was amazed that Skye still hadn't appeared yet.

"Boo." I heard someone whisper in my ear.

I jumped and threw my fist back, Punching whoever was beside me in the face.

"Damn it, Claire! For a small girl, you have some arm!"

I turned around. "Who are you calling small?" I shouted and crossed my arms. "Have you learned nothing from the past month? Skye, I hate it when you do that!"

He started to chuckled. "Your right, It is my fault. I guess I'm just bad at picking up hints." He said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Idiot." I muttered.

"Though, I kind of figured out _why _you hate that." He said, as a smirk smeared across his face.

"Really?" I said, rolling my eyes. "Please, go on." I continued, feigning interest.

"Your scared someone's going to kidnap you." He teased.

"Kidnap me? Please." I scoffed. "I'm an adult, have you forgotten?"

"But you look like a child, Your small and fragile. Well, maybe not fragile... but either way, you look like a child." He said.

I blushed. "I do not look like a child!" I yelled, pouting.

He started to laugh. "Look at yourself, Claire. Your so short, how could someone not mistake you for a kid?"

"I'm not short!" I growled, getting very frustrated.

He took a step towards me.

"Yes you are." He chuckled, looking down at me.

"I'm leaving!" I yelled, as I began to storm off.

I felt myself jerk to a stop. I looked back and saw that Skye had grabbed my wrist, stopping me from going anywhere.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "I'll stop teasing you."

I sighed. "Fine!" I replied.

He chuckled. "You are so cute." He said, poking my cheeks. "Especially when you blush." He continued.

I slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me!" I hissed.

He simply chuckled.

I sighed. "Skye, what are we?" I asked him, changing the topic.

"Hmm?" He turned to look at me, a little confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, what are we relationship wise?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I'm not sure." He replied.

I sighed. I really didn't want to say the word, mostly because he was a thief. And not just any thief, He was an arrogant, womanizing, narcissist thief. Even his own associates would eventually get aggravated and leave him, so I doubt he has friends.

"Are we F-" I tried to say the word, but it was stuck in my throat.

"Friends?" He said, finishing the sentencing for me. "Sure, why not." He chuckled as put his hands behind his head and began to lean on the Goddess tree.

"Is that your response?" I asked, folding my arms. "I doubt a thief like you would have any friends!" I retorted.

-"Claire." He sighed. "You worry to much on labels. Didn't you mother ever teach you not to judge a book by it's cover?"

I rolled my eyes. "Can you please give me a serious response?" I asked.

"I don't know." He said. "Do you want to be friends?"

"Do you?" I asked. "I don't really care, as long as your here, I'm happy." He replied.

I sighed. He's useless.

"You didn't have to do that, you know." I said, nodding my head in shame.

"Do what?" He asked.

"You didn't have to lie just to be with me." I said, as I leaned on the Goddess tree beside him.

"Oh. You mean that... Well, I thought it seemed more _romantic_ that way." He smirked, leaning on me.

I shuddered. "Ew!" I pushed him off as he began to laugh.

"Even so, I thought it would be better for a change, you know? Don't you get bored just sitting here by the Goddess pond everyday waiting for me?"

"Except rainy days." I said as he chuckled.

I shrugged and decided it wouldn't be a bad idea. "I guess It's okay if we're friends. Just don't think I'll help you with your schemes! I'm just your friend! That also doesn't mean we will ever be anything more then friends! Third, Don't take advantage of-"

He put his finger on my mouth. "Shut up." He said, chuckling.

"Stop touching me!" I shouted.

He chuckled.

I yawned, I was getting tired already.

"Tired?" He asked, chuckling.

"I can stay up! Don't worry about me, I just need to sit..." I said, as I sat down. My back was still against the Goddess tree.

He smirked and did the same. "I stopped appreciating it after you came around, but do you know why I always come to the Goddess pond?" He asked me.

"I don't know. Why do you?" I asked. My eyelids seemed to be getting heavy, but I forced myself to keep them open.

* * *

**A/N: **Third Person POV

"Well." Skye began. "I liked watching the moon's reflection in the water. You know something else? I also love the night sky. It's so beautiful, it looks like a child spilled glitter on the sky." He chuckled. "Look at all the stars, Claire. They're gorgeous, though... It's nothing compared to your beauty." Skye looked at the blonde besides him.

"That's nice, Skye." She simply mumbled. Her eyes were closed, but she was still awake.

He chuckled. He already knew Claire was on the verge of falling asleep, so continued on. Besides, he wanted her to fall asleep. He was looking forward to seeing her sleeping face.

"I guess I just like the darkness of the night. I've always been alone, I've always had young maidens confessing their love for me, but not once have I accepted them." He smirked as he thought of the girls' reactions.

"I always thought I liked being alone, well of course, before you came along. A lot changed when you came along... Did you know that?" He asked her.

"Mhmm..." Was all that was heard. He chuckled again. Claire's head began to rest on his shoulder.

"I like your different attitude, and I can honestly say that your the first and only girl I've meet that will actually bother with me. Every other girl who acts like you tries to turn me in. I'm actually quite glad that you haven't told anyone, and I think I should thank you for that." He stopped and look at her once again.

Claire was asleep. She didn't respond, make a face, or hit him. All she did was use him as a head rest.

He chuckled. "That's so adorable." He mumbled. "Well, I can't leave you here, and It's already 6am..." He said, then he blinked. "Damn it, This is usually the time she wakes up!" He said.

He already knew some people were awake, and by the time he left Claire to her house, most of the town would be awake.

They were friends right? Friends did things for each other. He figured that Claire would have to repay him eventually, so he shrugged and put one arm under her legs and another on her back.

He lifted her up. "Damn. She's heavy..." He grunted and put some more strength.

"Maybe Claire's right..." He chuckled to himself. "I am weak." He shrugged. He wasn't the type for labor.

He smiled at her sleeping face. It was so peaceful and calm, unlike her.

"She has the cutest face when she's asleep." He mumbled.

He began to walk the path to the Main Area, hiding behind trees and bushes until he reached the path to Claire's ranch.

He heard someone else walking the path to the farm. He hid behind the tree next to Claire's home.

"Claire? Are you working outside?" A delicate voice said. It was Celia, She always came early in the morning before work to help Claire.

"Why do these farm girls wake up so early?" Skye muttered to himself.

Celia walked towards the Bird shed to see if Claire was feeding the chickens already.

Skye took advantage and snuck inside Claire's house. "Alright, I only have so much time to do this..." He mumbled to himself as he set Claire on her bed as he tucked her in.

"Thank you." He whispered.

"Claire! Wake up! I'm coming in!" Celia yelled. Skye saw the knob turn and nudged Claire. "Wake up Claire!" He shook her.

"Hmm?" She said, yawning and stretching. Skye had to hid somewhere. He quickly stood next to the door, so that when Celia opened it, he would be hidden behind the door.

"Did you hear me Claire? I said I'm coming in!" Celia shouted again.

Claire's eyes widened. She realized that she had fallen asleep on Skye, and he came to drop her off at her home. The only thing he didn't know was that Celia always came early in the morning to come and help.

"Don't come in!" She shouted, thinking of an excuse. "I'm not dressed yet!"

"Oh! Are you almost dressed?" She asked.

"I'll let you know, why don't you go check on the chickens for me?" Claire asked.

"I already did but I'll go feed them If you want me too." She said.

"Sure! Go ahead!" She shouted back.

Once she heard Celia walk away, she quickly shot a look at Skye.

"Are you stupid?" She asked. "Sometimes I really think your a complete idiot!"

"You look cute when your asleep, Claire." He smirked, changing the subject.

She looked away and blushed. "This is not the time for that! Just go, get out!" She began to push him out.

"Alright, I'll be on my way! Good morning, Claire." He chuckled and walked out.

She waited a minute and opened the door. She was looking for him, and he just disappeared.

She was still curious as to how he did that.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I know Claire only slept like, 2 minutes? I'm sorry xD Anyways, I know this took 2 weeks to finished, and the only way I finished this by going to a farm. And NO I didn't go to a farm to get inspiration xD I went to relax, and well, there's no internet in the middle of no where. So there's not much I can do on a laptop except write. I also fell head first off of a horse. I'm going to a doctor tomorrow, I'm hideously sore. It hurts to move.

Please R&R!


	9. Festivals & Furry

**A/N: **All I can say is. Skye is a_ really _ignorant thief.

_Dear Phantom Skye,_

_Please stop trying to marry me. I have rejected you three times. If you leave a note saying your going to 'steal my heart away' one more, I will slap the thief out of you._

_Sincerely, A very annoyed blonde._

* * *

_**Monday**_

I went back inside the house after Skye left. I decided to get ready quickly before Celia become suspicious. I brushed my hair thoroughly and threw on some clean overalls. As I was finishing getting ready, Celia barged in.

"Hey Claire, I fed the chickens." Celia said, smiling. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to knock..."

I giggled. Celia was getting pretty comfortable at my home, which I was completely okay with. Celia was my best friend, and It would stay that way.

"It's alright." I said, reassuring her that it was fine.

Celia smiled, then looked at me. "I'm so happy today, I really can't wait for tomorrow!" She said.

I looked at Celia. She smiled from ear to ear, seeming excited and bubbly.

"What happens tomorrow?" I asked, raising a brow in interest.

"Karen!" She squealed.

"Karen?" I repeated. I was expecting a boy, but a Karen? Could it be that... Wait, why am I thinking that about my best friend? I shook my head violently.

"Karen and I have been best friends since we were little children! After a month of helping out her parents in Mineral Town, they finally let her come every week on Tuesdays, and she promised to visit me!" She said, her excitement only seeming to increase more.

My smile faded. It was a little hurtful that Celia had another best friend. I wasn't jealous or anything... but what If Celia hung out with Karen more than me? What if she just didn't need me anymore because her _best _friend was around? Then who would I hang with? _Rock? _He talks way too much about my love life and Lumina. _Skye? _Out of all the people, I'd rather tell my secrets to my chickens.

"That's nice..." I mumbled.

"Anyways, could we please get going? I want to go to the beach before it gets full! Today's the first day of Summer! And I love Kai's cooking!" She said, pulling my wrist.

I smiled a little. "Okay! Let's just pick up Rock on the way there."

* * *

After picking Rock up at the Inner Inn, we headed off to the beach.

"I didn't know you hung out with Celia." He said, putting his arms behind his head as we walked. "You know you didn't need to pick me up. I'd much rather be walking with Lumina, anyway."

I rolled my eyes. "Why can't you just be grateful that I bother giving you the time of day?" I growled. "You talk about my love life, when I'm completely convinced you are in love with Lumina!"

Celia didn't really know how to fit into the conversation since she didn't talk to Rock.

"Of course I am. She means the world to me." He simply remarked.

My eyes widened in shock. How could he just confess like he was commenting on the weather?

"How could you be so nonchalant about something so important?" I yelled.

"Because I'm not embarrassed of it." He replied.

"H-Have you confessed to her yet?" Celia asked timidly, trying to get into the conversation.

"Not yet. It's all about the right moment. I have to be sure she feels the same." He said, smiling.

What surprised me the most was how Rock wasn't scared to admit something. Maybe because he knows himself better then I do... Maybe he's right.. I don't know myself. Wait a minute, That's ridiculous! Of course I know myself!

"I think it's sweet that you like Lumina." Celia said with a smile.

I rolled my eyes. Love was so childish, honestly! But I didn't want to say anything.

"I think you'll like Kai a lot, Claire. You might actually find something else to do then talk to your chickens all day." He teased.

I growled. "Shut up! I don't talk to chickens!" I shouted.

My shouting called unwanted attention, and cause a few people to turn and stare at me. I blushed and looked at the ground.

We had finally reached the All-You-Can-Eat Festival. The beach was completely crowded, and then I saw someone standing at the stand that had been empty for a month.

He had a purple headband on his head, tan skin that made me look translucent, and a white shirt under a brown jacket.

"Hello Kai!" Celia and Rock shouted in unison.

Celia gave Kai a friendly hug and said he looked different since last year. Rock, on the other hand, grabbed my wrist and pulled me to Kai. "Kai, I'd like you to meet Claire. She just arrived to town a month ago."

Then Rock let go of my wrist and whispered something into Kai's ear that made him blush embarrassingly. "I-Is that so? He he..." He stuttered.

I already knew Rock had something about me, but I didn't want to yell at Rock and make a bad first impression. So I just stood there, pretending I had no idea what Rock had just said.

"You probably already know what I said, right Claire?" He said, chuckling.

I blushed angrily. Rock could read me like a book.

"Aw, Your blushing because your embarrassed! How adorable!" He began to tease.

Kai blushed furiously. "Get out of here, Rock!" He said, pushing him away.

Rock simply laughed. "Alright, I'll leave you two alone." He said, walking away towards Lumina, who was just arriving to the beach.

"Ignore him, He's an idiot." He said, chuckling nervously.

"Listen, whatever he said, It's not true." I told him, reassuringly.

"Thank god! I thought you were really gay for a second!" He said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"W-What? He said that about me?" I stuttered. That little bastard! He knew I would think it was something else, so he told Kai something I would of never figured out on my own! Damn it, Rock is really a smart guy.

"Um.. Well... Yeah..." He replied.

"Well, He's an idiot. Because I am definitely NOT gay! Well It's not like I have anything against them... It's just I am not one of them and I certainly-"

Kai cut me off. He chuckled. "Don't worry. I believe you. Rock's always been a self-centered jerk, but he will always have a place in his heart for other people..." He said.

"Unfortunately, it's a small portion." I muttered to myself.

Kai and I talked for a while until the beach was crowded with people from Forget-Me-Not-Valley and Mineral Town.

There was a lot of people I knew, and a lot of people I didn't.

Everyone seemed excited about the All-You-Can-Eat Festival, and I went up to Kai to see what he was making.

I leaned over the counter to try and see what he was making.

"Hey, no peeking." He said.

"I want to see what your making! C'mon, you can tell me!" I said.

"It's a secret." He winked playfully.

I pouted. "Alright..." I mumbled in defeat.

He just laughed at my failed attempt. "We're about to start, so just wait with the others." He said.

It was already 6 before I knew it, and the All-You-Can-Eat festival was over. Everyone was heading home and commenting on how the food was delicious. Rock teased me about gaining unwanted weight today. I know he was just trying to tease me, but just to be safe... I should go on a diet starting tomorrow.

Celia and I began to walk out of the beach together, since Rock decided to walk Lumina home.

We were the last ones to leave the beach, and before we had officially left the beach, I turned to look at Kai.

I grabbed Celia's wrist, signaling her to stop. "Celia, we should walk with Kai, So he won't be alone." I suggested.

"Sure, why not?" She said, smiling.

I smiled and cupped my mouth to make my voice audible. "Hey Kai! Why don't you walk home with us?" I shouted from across the beach.

He smiled. "Sure, why not?" He shouted back. "Just let me finish up here!" He continued, closing up the shack. When he finished, he ran to catch up with us and we all walked until we reached the Main Area.

Celia was the first one to part. "I'm going to head off to the fields, See you tomorrow!" She said, departing east.

"Why not come to the Inner Inn with me? We could talk a bit more." He said.

I blushed a bit, but turned away before he could noticed. "M-Maybe tomorrow... I have something to do tonight. How about early in the morning?"

"Sure!" He said. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

I nodded as he walked towards the Inn, then I sighed.

Here goes another night of _him._

* * *

As I waited by the Goddess spring, I began to get annoyed. The sound of the cicada's were getting on my nerves, and the summer's humidity was starting to get to me.

I heard someone chuckle.

After a month, you'd think he'd realize that I hate it when he pops out of no where without a warning. Well, you'd be wrong.

At least I already knew who it was. Who else would come to the Goddess spring at midnight?

No else but Skye.

"Don't you know I hate that?" I said, finally turning around to look at him. I didn't see anyone.

"You mean this?" I heard someone whisper in my ear from behind. I jumped and turned around once more.

"Yes that you idiot!" I shrieked.

"Of course I know that. I just love to see you jump, I find it adorable." He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course you do." I mumbled, as I handed him his daily curry. "Here you go."

"Should I address you as Miss Phantom from now on?" He teased then chuckled.

I blushed furiously. "M-Miss Phantom? What do you mean?" I stuttered in shock.

"Well, you're always cooking me curry. Your acting like your my wife." He said bluntly.

Me? _His _wife? Even if they offer me all the money in the world, I would never marry such arrogant, self-consumed, womanizing thief!

I decided to play along with his joke. "Why don't you go ahead and call me your wife from now on." I said sarcastically.

"I think I might just do that from now on." He chuckled. "Just to annoy you." He added.

I groaned. "Splendid."

He chuckled again.

I decided to change the topic. I wanted to talk to him about something that had been on my mind. The only problem was I didn't know how to address it correctly. I sighed. "Listen Skye... I'd like it if you'd stop stealing." I said.

He chuckled. "It's too bad I can't."

I shrugged. At least I gave it a shot. Why would I break my back over this? He's the thief, he can deal with the consequences.

"Is there a reason why you'd like me to stop stealing? Are you finally falling for the 'Prince of the Stars'?" He chuckled.

"No! I am definitely not! I just... don't want you to get caught. As f-friends... I … I c-care about what happens to..." I swallowed. I couldn't believe what I was about to say, but I was going to say it anyway.

"You." I finally said.

He began to laugh. "That might have been the cutest thing I have ever seen!" He exclaimed.

I blushed. "S-Shut up! You asked for a reason, I gave you a reason! So take me seriously!" I pouted.

After a while, he began to calm down. "Okay, Okay. I'm sorry, you're right." He apologized.

I stood there quietly for a moment before he finally answered me.

"Don't worry, It's not my time to get caught." was his response.

I growled. I really wanted to smack him right now. I'm trying be a good friend, and all he's going to say is _that_?

"You watch how fast I can get you arrested." I muttered.

"You wouldn't do that to your _best_ friend, now would you?" He chuckled.

"You are not my best friend!" I retorted.

He chuckled again. "Well if you do, I can always use my Maiden Chick Beam." He simply said, shrugging.

"Alright, what the hell is that? Maiden Chick Beam... sounds like something you'd hear off a kid's show." I said.

He chuckled. "It's kind of like a magical power... I'm not ordinary, if you haven't noticed. If I were, where would the mystique in our relationship be?" He asked me.

"Up your ass. Because that's where it's about to be." I threatened. "I just want you stop stealing... I could care less about magical powers and mystique."

He smirked. "Of course you wouldn't care about those type of things. But that's what keeps everything exciting for me."

"Can't you find excitement from something else?" I asked.

"Not really." He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes. Trying to convince Skye to stop stealing was like trying to convince a wall to stop... well, being a wall.

"It's really hot tonight." I said, changing the topic.

He chuckled. "Can't take a little heat?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm just saying! I hate Summer just as much as I hate Winter." I retorted.

"You hate Winter? What's wrong with it?" He asked.

It was a personal reason, something I didn't want to tell him. "I just don't like it!" I shouted.

He chuckled. "You sure are strange, Claire."

I growled. "Shut up! I am not strange! It's not of your business anyway!" I shouted.

"Can't you tell me? I've told you everything about me." he stated.

"Romance." I said.

"Romance?" He repeated.

"Yes! Isn't that what Winter is all about? That's what I always told... That's what I've always seen. Snuggling to keep warm, Mistletoes, giving your partner an extremely expensive gift..." I scoffed. I never enjoyed that season.

He laughed.

"And snow!" I added. "Snow is just so childish. It's pretty at first, but then it becomes annoying! It keeps you from work, you have to shovel it every single day and-"

Skye cut me off. "I'm right here if you need me." He said, with a comforting smile.

It caught me off guard. "...Huh?" I managed to say.

"Well, If you need someone to snuggle with-"

I cut him off. "Shut up, Skye!" I shoved him and he started to chuckle. "I wouldn't want to ever do any of those things with you!" I shouted and crossed my arms.

His smile faded and he smirked. "Okay, I understand. You should probably get home soon. Something you need to do early in the morning tomorrow?" He asked.

"I should, It's getting pretty late..." I began. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Skye." I said.

"Goodbye Miss Phantom." He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes. What an irritating thief! As I walked home, there was a thought that didn't escape my mind well.

How did he know that?

* * *

**Author's Notes:** If your very confused about my author's notes in the beginning of the chapter, well, Skye keeps proposing to me in HMDS:CUTE. As much as I would LOVE to say yes. I can't. Because I'm trying to marry Cliff or . Just something I think i should say, I think is freaking adorable. He's the definition of cute. I love the way he blushes! And when he goes all doctor on you. His Yellow Heart event was beyond adorable!

R&R!


	10. Jokes & Jealousy

**Author's Notes:** As you all should know by now, Japan was hit by an earthquake, a 8.9 on 11.3.2011. This devastates me because even though I am not Japanese, I feel like I am in my heart. I care a lot about everyone in Japan and I will pray for them. I believe that Japan is a strong country and can make it through this. I'd like it if my reviewers would take the time to pray for them as well. **A little dedication will be included in this chapter.

Anyways, on to the story. For those of you who are excited for this chapter, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but no heart event yet. Remember, It's Summer! Skye's birthday is in the summer! I want to write about it, I promise it will be in the next chapter. For now, it's just going to be a filler chapter, with more fluff. Patience is key!

* * *

_**Tuesday**_

I had woken up later than usual this morning. I threw off my covers, sat up and stretched. Today Celia was with Karen, and she didn't come by to wake me up.

As I brushed my hair, I thought about Celia and Skye. What was with him yesterday? He suddenly became tense and just told me to go, and he knew I was going to visit someone in the morning.

Then I looked at the time. "Crap! I'm late!" I shouted. It was 8 o'clock, and I had promised to visit Kai at the Inn. I rushed to get dress and ready then rushed out the door. I ran to Main Area and ran towards the Inn entrance. Right as I was about to reach the door, it swung open and hit me, sending me backwards.

"Ow!" I shouted, rubbing my head.

It was Kai who popped out from behind the door. "Oh Claire! I'm sorry! I was just about to head out! I was waiting for you." He said, stretching out his hand to help me up.

I chuckled nervously and grabbed his hand as he pulled me up. "I-I'm sorry... I went to sleep pretty late last night... I'm really sorry, Kai." I apologized, dusting off the dirt.

"It's alright, Just drop by my beach when you take a break from farming." He said as he began to walk away.

I grabbed his arm. "I-I could go right now!" I stuttered. He turned to look at me, and I blushed, looking away.

Kai nodded. "Well... considering you put on your shirt inside out, I'm guess you rushed this morning." He chuckled nervously.

I looked down at myself, realizing that my shirt _was _inside out. My blush darkened, and I let go of his arm. "I h-hadn't realized..." I stuttered again.

He smiled. "Take it easy, Claire. I'll be at the stand all day." He said, before walking away.

I walked home and got ready properly. After checking myself constantly, I went outside to plant the seeds. As I prepared the land, I thought to myself about Celia. I began to think I was becoming to dependent on her. She has her own life as well, I shouldn't rely on her to wake me up when I stay up late, help me feed the chickens when I'm still half-asleep, brush my hair when I'm too tired to do it myself.

Most of that is fault of Skye. If it wasn't for Skye, I wouldn't stay up so late at night to see him.

_If it's Skye's fault, why do you stay up till dawn to be with him?_

That was a question that I failed to answer.

I went into the chicken coop and fed the chickens. Celia's egg had already hatched, and she had named it Sunny.

"Hello Sunny." I cooed. I picked up the chick and petted him.

"Celia's not here today, she's hang out with her best friend." I said to the chick, as if it actually understood me. I sighed and set him down. Today was going to be a long day.

After finish up, and hour had gone by and I walked the path to the Main Area. I was headed towards the North East path to the beach. If hadn't been thinking about things I had to do tonight, I would of noticed a young woman with brown hair and blonde highlights heading in the same direction as me.

It seems though that she wasn't paying much attention towards where she was going either, we bumped into each other.

"Ow!" We shouted in unison.

"Why don't you watch where your going next time?" I heard her shout angrily.

I rubbed my head and looked up. "Hey! Why don't _you_?" I shouted back at her.

She rolled her eyes, then after examining me for a while, her anger faded. "Wait a minute, I haven't seen you around here before..." She began, circling around me. "Are you Claire?" She asked, leaning closer towards my face in curiosity.

I took a step back. "Yes... um... Who are you?" I asked, wondering how this girl could possibly know my name.

"I'm Karen. Celia's told me so much about you. Sorry for being rude earlier, I just haven't been in a good mood since Friday." She said.

"Oh, Hello Karen. Celia has also told me a lot about you." I began. "If you don't mind telling me, what happen Friday?" I asked her.

"Um, do you have somewhere to go?" She asked me.

"Well yeah, but it can wait." I said. I felt bad for making Kai wait, but he would be there all day anyway.

"Let's walk to Celia's place. I tell you about it on the way there." She said, walking east.

I followed her and waited for her to begin. "Well, I'm worried about my relatives in Japan" She said, her expression changing into depression.

I was confused. "What happen? Are they sick?" I asked.

"I hope not. I'm not sure, I haven't been able to get in contact with them since the earthquake, the power's been out for a while." She sighed, staring at the ground.

"E-Earthquake?..." I stuttered. I hadn't heard anything about an earthquake, I had no idea what she was talking about. "I hope your not joking..." I mumbled, mostly to myself.

"That's right, you Valley folks don't really know much about what's going on around the world, unless you go to the town." She said.

"I don't."

"Well, Last week an 8.9 Earthquake struck Japan." She informed me.

My mouth fell open. "8.9?..." I managed to say, as shock and worry raced through my body.

"Yep. You look pale, do you have family over there too?" She asked, looking concerned about my current state.

I simply nodded. I couldn't get another word out my mouth. Everything I wanted to say was lodged in my throat.

"It's okay. I'm sure there fine..." She reassured me, patting my back. I wasn't so sure about it, but I didn't feel like disagreeing.

We had already reached the door of Celia's home, and Karen knocked on the door.

"You going to come inside?" She asked.

I nodded. "N-No... I have other things to do. Tell Celia I say Hi." I said, walking away from the house and towards the bridge that would lead me to the Main Area.

* * *

I had reached a normal state of mind by the time I had reached the beach.

"Hey Claire!" I heard someone shout.

I saw that it was Kai, calling me over to his stand. I walked over to him, smiling. "Hey Kai." I greeted.

"Howzit goin', Claire?" He said. "Pretty good, I guess. How's business?" I asked him.

"Good." He smiled. "You hungry?" He asked me.

"Hmm? Me? I guess so, but I don't have any money on me right now." I told him. Whatever he was cooking smelled really good, I had to admit, but I had no money.

"That's alright. It's on the house." He said, handing me a plate of Pizza.

I shook my head. "I can't accept it, It would just be rude." I said, denying his offer.

"C'mon, It's free food! You'd just be wasting it, Claire. It's not right to waste food, especially when there's so many hungry people in the world." He scolded playfully.

"Alright... I'll eat it!" I reluctantly took the plate of food and began to eat.

He smiled and laughed when I finished eating.

"What's so funny?" I asked him.

"You have sauce on your cheek." He grabs a napkin and wipes it off of my cheek.

I felt my face burn when he touched me. He just smiled warmly, not teasing me or anything.

"Well Claire? Was it good?" He looked at me.

"Of course. It tasted great! You made it on your own?" I asked him, amazed how he could make a Pizza from scratch.

"Everything is made by hand." He reassured me. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something. Is that okay?" He asked me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I've been patting you on the back a lot since we meet. Is that a little too touchy-feely for you?" He asked, looking a bit embarrassed of his motives.

"Of course not. I don't mind at all." I said, smiling warmly.

"Really? That's a relief! I'd feel really awkward if I couldn't say hi in my own way. It's not like I'm flirting." I saw a cheerful smile reappear on his face.

I blushed just a little.

"Whew! Glad we got that straightened out!" He smiled. "You should probably get back to work. Come back anytime!" He said.

"I will." I smiled and headed towards the exit of the beach.

* * *

"So, do you like Kai?" Rock asked me as we walked together towards the Inner Inn.

"Of course not! He's just a friend! Nothing more!" I shouted, a blush creeping onto my face.

"Doesn't seem like it." He teased. "Looks like your more then friends, especially that whole love fest you two had at the beach today." He poked me, chuckling.

I felt my entire face burn. "Y-You were watching!" I stuttered in embarrassment. "I can't believe this! You asshole!" I pushed him.

He just laughed. "How can I not watch? It was just too fun not to. Why don't you like Kai? Got your heart set on someone else?"

I nodded. "O-Of course not! I like Kai as a friend, I'm just not interested in anyone right now. I'm trying to maintain a farm, you know." I folded my arms.

"Yeah okay. You should give him a chance. He really likes you." He said.

"He l-likes me?" I blushed.

He began to burst out into laughter again. "God, that was freaking hilarious!"

"Shut up! I hate you!" I shouted. Why did this boy always find a way to get on my nerves? Why do I still talk to him? Like most questions I couldn't answer, this was one of them.

"Of course you do. Come on." He opened the door to the Inn and we walked inside. Sure enough, Kai was in the lobby, talking to Ruby. "Hey Ruby!" Rock shouted from across the lobby. "Is dinner ready?"

"Not yet, I'm to start right now, I was just keeping Kai company." She said.

"That's okay!" I could tell by the look on Rock's face he was already scheming. "Claire can keep him company. I would love to, but I have somethings I need to take care of." He smiled slyly.

"Alright, You go ahead and cook, Ruby. I'll be here with Claire if you need me." He smiled.

"Okay then." She walked towards the kitchen.

I saw Rock climb upstairs before I could shout at him, I just glared at him angrily as he walked up the stairs.

Kai frowned. "Am I really that bad to be with?" He asked me.

I looked him and nodded. "Of course not! It's just... well... Rock's been giving me a hard time. That's all." I sighed. That idiot is a slick bastard.

"Is it about you and me?" He asked, same expression still stuck on his face.

"It's nothing bad, just don't take it personal. It's Rock being an idiot." I chuckled nervously.

"Ah..." A small smile began to appear on his face. "Your right. It's Rock we're talking about here." He chuckled.

I smiled back at him.

We talked for what seemed like two minutes, when really a couple of hours had gone by. After hanging in the lobby, he decided to show me to his room for the month. He invited me inside and hung out there for the rest of the evening. I found out about Kai's favorite fruit, I told him about my life and he told me about his. He told me about Mineral Town and I told him about the city.

"So that's what the city's like? Seems pretty nice, I might want to go there when I get the chance." He smiled.

"Yeah well, It's nice at first. But the overwhelming amount of people takes some getting used to." I said, sighing as I remembered how crowded the streets used to be.

"It must suck though. Here, everyone knows your name. This place is small enough that everyone gets along. It's calm and the mood's great. The town's a bit different, but people are still as close as they are here. News spreads like wildfire in a town so small." He smiled.

"Gossip does spread pretty fast around here..." I sighed, remembering how I had lied to Celia about the Phantom thief.

I looked at the time. It was already late, damn it! I stood up. "Well, Kai. I had a nice time, I really should get going." I told him, walking towards the door.

"Glad you had fun today. Make sure to stop by the stand anytime you'd like." He smiled. "Well, I'll see you around!" He waved to me as I made my way out the door and down to the lobby.

I had curry to make.

* * *

I waited by the pond as usual, reflecting on my thoughts._ Why do I hang around this idiot? When all I really need is Kai. He's like a breath of fresh air compared to Skye! Skye is just a nuisance!_

My brain made so much sense, but I failed to listen.

I was sitting on the ground, leaning again the tree. Looking at the moon's reflection in the pond, listening to the annoying sound of cicadas, and waiting for Skye.

When the clock struck midnight, there he was. He didn't say much, all he did was lean by the tree and stay quiet.

I handed him his daily curry, and he took it as always. The only difference this time was that Skye didn't thank me, or say anything. All he did was take it, and his expression was as cold as stone.

"Is something the matter? I've never seen you like this." I asked him.

He shrugged. "It's not like you'd care anyway." He refused to look at me, expression still angry.

"Your my friend, idiot." I didn't appreciate the way he was acting with me.

He muttered something under his breath that was barely audible to me.

"Come again?" I asked him.

"It's nothing important." He said simply.

Something was up with Skye. This had been going on since yesterday, before I left. Now it was getting out of hand. "Alright. What is up with you? First, you get all mad because I had to meet with some one-" I cut myself off instantly. I had finally realized why Skye had gotten so angry. He was _jealous. _

He was jealous of Kai.

This was great! I finally had a reason to make fun of Skye! I could finally turn the tables and get back at him for everything he had done to me.

"Are you... _jealous_?" I teased, with a sly smile smeared across my face.

"Jealous? Claire, what are you talking about?" He gave me a look, as if I was crazy.

"Your jealous that I'm hanging out with Kai." I said, poking his shoulder. I liked the idea of being on top, it made me feel good.

He didn't respond. Though I could tell he knew I was right, which is why he couldn't come up with a comeback.

I smiled in victory. "I'm right, aren't I? That's why you don't have a comeback?" I teased him again.

He just shook his head, his facial expression not changing at all. "This isn't funny, Claire. You don't seem to understand anything, do you?" He said.

"What?" I said, my smile fading away.

"Forget it, Claire. Your just lost, completely." He still didn't look at me. His expression didn't change, he didn't do anything.

I began to get angry. "I'm lost? What the hell does any of this have to do with me? Your the one that's jealous! Not me!" I shouted at him angrily.

He finally turned to look at me. My anger seemed to recede as I realized that I had taken it a little too far. I had no idea what was going on inside Skye's head, and whatever I say just seems to make it worse.

"This has more to do with you than anything else." He told me.

I still didn't understand anything. _Why _was he jealous of Kai?

"Skye, what's there to be jealous about?" I asked him, trying my best to talk in a calm tone.

"Just drop it, Claire." He said.

"But Skye-"

"Drop it." He repeated, before he stormed away angrily.

I waited a bit.

"Skye?" I said, but received no response.

I stood up and walked the path to the Main Area. No sign of Skye.

"Skye!" I shouted, but again received no response.

I sighed and gave up. I decided to go home, since he decided to just disappear into the night. What does he mean this has more to do with me than anyone else? Why did he get so angry when I teased him? This may look like a joke to me, but it isn't to him. I couldn't seem to understand why he took it so seriously.

What is wrong with him?

* * *

**Author's Note: **Well, this chapter's finally finished. And for you Claire and Kai fans out there, just giving you a little fan service. Oh and a little bit of jealousy... I hope you enjoyed it! Not much to say, honestly. Please R&R!

**_ "I liked the idea of being on top. It made me feel good."_ This sentence is just so... xD


	11. Blushing & Birthdays

**Author's Notes**: It's hard to write author's notes when your listening to Britney Spears... Anyways, I promise this is the last chapter before the Green Heart Event! Horray! I'm sure you were all getting annoyed, weren't you? Ha ha, don't worry, As badly as I want to get to the love and marriage part, I can't. Anyways, enjoy! And a little note, a week has passed, so it's Wednesday of the next week

Another thing I think I should add, First, I recommend you add this story to your favorites if you keep track of it, because I'm thinking of changing the title. Also, don't rely on my pen name to help you, I tend to change it a lot. Second, please review if you're reading this. If your really enjoying my story, please review. I look forward to people reviewing my stories. I'll add a new chapter when I have more than one review. Sorry if that seems mean, I still love those who take the time and review! I'd be much appreciated. Enjoy!

**Anonymous reviews are on.

* * *

_**Wednesday**_

"Claire! Get up!" Celia shouted, as she knocked on the door. It was becoming a daily routine, I would wake up late, and Celia would scold me and wake me up on her own.

I opened the door and let her in. "Claire, you can't maintain a farm if you're always up late at night!" she scolded me.

I nodded. "I know, I'm sorry. Let's go feed the chickens." I told her.

She sighed and walked towards the Chicken coop. Gotz had already upgraded my house and I had a kitchen, so I didn't need to go to Celia's house to cook anymore.

"Hey Celia..." I began to say as I feed the chickens. When I turned to look at her, she was petting her chick. She smiled. "Your so cute!"

I stood there, not knowing what to say. "Um, Celia?" I chuckled nervously.

She finally realized I was talking to her. "Yes? What is it, Claire?" She looked at me.

"Do you know how to cook Finest Curry?" I asked her. "I'm not sure how to do it myself..." Today, I was going to test my cooking skills, and hopefully get Skye's mood to change. He's been angry for a week now and I have no idea how to handle it. Some of Skye's fan girls had told me that he loved Finest Curry, so I was going to give it a shot.

"Claire, I'm really starting to worry about your curry obsession..." She said.

"I-I want to be a curry chef." I quickly lied. "I want to know how to make Finest Curry."

The look on Celia's face told me that she still didn't buy it, but she just shrugged. "Alright, whatever. I'll teach you. I'm sure I have the recipe lying around somewhere. I'm come over tonight at 8 o'clock." She said. "I have to go now, see you tonight."

"Alright." I replied. "See ya."

* * *

I had went to the beach today, meeting Kai and Rock. Rock convinced Kai to take a break and we were all just sitting under an umbrella, joking around, laughing and having a good time.

"You have to admit, Kai. That was pretty funny!" Rock said, in-between laughter.

I was laughing as well. "I can't believe that happened to her! That's must have been so embarrassing!" I said, trying to catch my breath.

He was laughing as well. "It really was! I had a lot of trouble helping her!" He said.

After calming down a bit, Rock spoke up. "So, How do you two feel about each other?" Rock said, a sly smile creeping on to his face. I shot a look at him.

Kai seemed to notice. "I am really that bad?" He asked me, frowning.

I looked at him. "No!" I quickly shouted. "Of course not! It's just Rock brought that up on purpose and-"

Rock cut me off. "She digs you, Kai." He said.

I elbowed him in the stomach. All I heard was an 'Oof'. I smirked in victory.

"No, I don't." I growled at him, then realizing that Kai was listening to the conversation, I backed myself up. "Not that I don't like you or anything! It's just.."

"It's alright, Claire. I'm just messing with you, It's fun to see you get all concerned about my feelings." He started to laugh. "Anyways, I think It's time you and I got back to work." He told me, as he stood and held out his hand to help me.

I grabbed it and he pulled me up. "I'll see you later on today." I told him. I was going to visit him at the Inn again.

"Hey, your just going to leave me here?" Rock asked, looking at both of us.

"Yeah, That's right." Kai and I said in unison. Then we looked at each other and laughed at how we think alike.

"Goodbye!" I shouted as I began to exit the beach.

* * *

I was heading upstairs to Kai's room. I had promised him that I would meet him today, though I couldn't stay long, Celia was going to come over and teach me how to cook Finest Curry.

I knocked on his door. "Hey Kai! It's me!" I shouted.

He instantly opened the door and smiled. "Come on in." He told me, before sighing.

When I walked in, I turned to look at him. He had a worried look on his face. "I'm not looking forward to Sundays." He told me, before sighing again.

I was confused. "What happens Sunday?" I asked him.

"Rick." He simply said.

"Rick? You mean that guy that sells cows and sheep?" I made a face. "What's wrong with him?"

"He hates me." He said.

"He hates you? Who possibly hate you, Kai? You're the sweetest guy I've ever meet. And Rick seems like a nice guy too, he doesn't look like the type to hate." I said, reassuring Kai that he was just overreacting.

"Looks can be deceiving." He chuckled before frowning again. "He's really overprotective of his sister, Popuri." He informed me.

"And that has to do with anything because?..." I didn't get where this was going.

"I... like Popuri." He stuck out his tongue as he blushed.

I gasped. "You mean that girl that sold me my chicken?" I asked him, before smiling. "Kai, that's so cute."

"Y-Yeah... well. Her brother doesn't think so..." his blush faded and he started to frown again.

"Hey! Don't let that guy get to you, Kai. He's just trying to protect his sister, but you're a great guy! I'm sure you'd treat Popuri like a Goddess." I said, encouraging him.

He smiled a bit. "You're right, I shouldn't let him get to me! Besides, It's Popuri's choice in the end, and he can't stop her, right?"

"Right!" I agreed. I looked at the time and realized it was already getting late. "Wow, It's getting late, I'll see you tomorrow Kai. I have something very important to do." I told him, as I headed for the door.

"Alright, see you tomorrow." He told me, smiling. "Thanks for everything, Claire."

I smiled back. "It was nothing, you're welcome." I said, before heading out the door.

I hurried downstairs to the lobby, then I rushed out of the Inn. I ran the path up to my ranch and ran to home as fast as I could. Once I reached my home, I stopped and I bent over, trying to catch my breath.

I saw a pair of feet walk up to me. I looked up and saw that Celia was just arriving.

"Coming back from Kai's room, I see." She giggled. "I didn't know you two liked each other! That's so cute!" She smiled.

I nodded my head, quickly disagreeing. "No! I don't like him! We're just friends! He likes... someone else..." I said, quickly regretting what I had just said. "I probably shouldn't have said that." I mumbled, mostly to myself.

"Really? I can keep a secret, tell me who it is!" She smiled eagerly.

I made a face. "I don't know If I should tell you... well, as long as you keep it a secret. I guess I'll tell you." I sighed.

I leaned forward and whispered the name into her ear.

"He likes her? Oh my Goddess! I had no idea!" She shouted loudly.

I quickly covered her mouth. "Shh! Someone could hear you!" I hissed.

She removed my hand. "Who's going to hear us? Takakura? I doubt he'd care about town gossip." She said.

"Well, let's just get inside. I want this to be over with, I have important things to do tonight." I said, then quickly wished I hadn't said that.

She folded her arms. "You're staying up again?" She sighed. "Why am I not surprised?.."

I chuckled nervously. "Celia... It's important." I told her.

"Yeah, whatever." She shrugged. "Let's go inside and get to cooking."

* * *

I headed off to the Goddess pond, carrying the Finest Curry. I was worried about Skye's attitude lately. Why was he so angry? I hadn't do anything wrong. I really hoped that he liked Finest Curry.

As I waited by the spring, I tried to figure out why Skye was jealous. He hadn't said anything to me in the past week. He only took the curry that I handed him and would leave me when I tried to talk to him.

It was already midnight when I looked at my watch, then I looked up.

There he was.

"Skye..." I said, hoping he would respond.

He didn't say anything. All he did was do that same thing he had done for a week; lean against the tree.

I sighed. "Skye, please talk to me... You're going to make me do something I'll regret." I said.

He shrugged.

"Fine!" I shouted. I can't believe what I was about to do, but I missed my Skye. Wait- What am I saying? I sighed and hugged him.

"Skye! Please talk to me! I miss the old Skye! The one that always teased me and was womanizing and arrogant! I'm sorry for whatever I did wrong! Just please give me back the old Skye!" I shouted then realized everything I had just said. I let go of him and looked to see if his expression had changed. I was surprised to see that a pink tint had appeared on his cheeks, and his angry expression had softened.

"Skye..." I began. "You're blushing." I said.

He turned his face. "No, I'm not." He said.

"You spoke to me... and you are blushing!" I said, poking fun at him.

"You just caught me off guard... I didn't know you felt that way." He said, trying to hid his blush.

Then I blushed. "I-I don't feel that way about you... Well I do b-but..." I stuttered. I didn't know what to say, so I decided to change the topic by giving him his curry.

"Here!" I said. "I made you Finest Curry. Some girls told me that you liked Finest Curry, so I decided to give a shot."

His blush become more visible. "F-Finest Curry?" He stuttered.

I smiled. I guess he did really like Finest Curry.

He chuckled. "Your kindness is greater than the sea to celebrate my birthday."

My eyes widened. It's was his birthday? I had no idea. I just decided to go along with it, but more importantly, Skye was back!

"You're back!" I smiled. He chuckled again. "I guess I am. I just can't resist Finest Curry." He looked at me. "You look very beautiful when you smile."

I rolled my eyes. "Here we go again!"

He chuckled. "Anyways, you have explaining to do!" I shouted. "Tell me why you were jealous of Kai!"

His smirk started to fade. "I was just concerned. I didn't want you to get hurt by some heartless jerk. I care about my friend, after all." He said.

"You're the heartless jerk!" I shouted. "You ignored me for a week!" I folded my arms. "Besides, Kai doesn't like me, and I don't like him!"

"He likes someone else?..." He said nervously. "You're right, I was treating you coldly. I just let my feelings take over. I apologize."

I blushed. He has feelings for me?

"You're blushing." He chuckled. "It's adorable."

I growled. "Shut up!" I shouted. "It's just... you have feelings for me?" I looked at him.

He didn't respond. "Let's not talk about this right now."

I shook my head. Skye does not have feelings for me! I'm just getting too close to him. Maybe I needed to start spending less nights staying up, waiting for him.

"Hey Skye..." I began. "Would you mind if I stopped spending some nights with you?"

He frowned. "I figured you'd ask sooner or later. I suppose it's my fault, am I right?" He asked.

"It's not that! It's just... well... I have a farm to maintain..." I looked at the ground.

He chuckled. "Right, I forgot. I would mind if you stopped meeting me at the spring at night, but I can't stop you." He said.

"Oh, Okay then. Well, I should get going..." I blushed. I was going to say something I'd regret. "I'll miss you." I mumbled, mostly to myself

He looked up at me, then smirked. Crap, he heard me. "I'll miss you too, Claire. Sweet dreams." He said.

I felt my face burn and I quickly ran off. Why did I say that? I think I've lost my mind. I heard him chuckle as I ran away.

I continued running and I didn't stop until I reached my home. I stopped at the door, trying to catch my breath. I don't know what caused me to react like that, why I had said any of those things.

What were these feelings I was feeling?

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Yay! Did you enjoy? Looks like Claire is started to realize her feelings for Skye! Oh, and the birthday thing had actually happened to me in the game. I just randomly went to meet Skye one night and when I gave him curry, he complimented me for 'remembering' his birthday. Well anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

R&R!


	12. Green Fields

**Author's Notes: **Thanks so much for the reviews! The reason I needed more than one review for a new chapter is because if no one reviews, I feel like no one is reading and I'm just writing for the hell of it. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

* * *

_**Friday**_

It was the first day of Autumn, and Kai had already left Forget-Me-Not Valley. Ever since Kai had told me about Popuri, I had spent every Sunday trying to get them together.

"_Are you sure this will work?"_

"_Of course! She likes you too!"_

Even though I spent most of the afternoons trying to reason with Rick and eventually arguing with him, It was well worth it.

I had gotten up without Celia's help, since I didn't meet up with Skye last night. I knew he was angry that I was spending less time with him, but every time his anger got to a point where he started to ignore me, I would just cook him Finest Curry and all was forgiven.

I was on my way to visit Celia since I didn't have much to do in the morning anyways.

"Hey Celia!" I shouted out to Vesta's field. It was hard to see anyone working since the tall crops usually blocked the view. When I didn't hear a response, I looked over to Vesta's store and saw that Marlin, Vesta, and Celia were crowded around outside, discussing something.

At first I thought it was nothing important, but as I walked closer to the trio, I noticed a note clutched in Celia's hand and worry was on all of their faces.

Oh no, Please tell me it's not him.

I walked over timidly towards them. "What's going on?" I sheepishly asked.

"You came at a good time, Claire." Vesta said.

I began to panic in my mind. I really hope it isn't him!

"A note from Phantom Skye just arrived." Celia said.

Marlin grabbed the note from Celia and read it out loud to the three of us. "At midnight, I shall help myself to your crops. Yours truly, Phantom Skye." He said, before looking up at us. "And that's all it says."

"He wants to ravage our crops! This is unbelievable! Give me a break!" Vesta shouted in anger.

I stood there quietly, not knowing what to say.

Celia walked up to me, and looked at the ground. "We can't do much with just the three of us." She began. "Would you like to help us nab that crook, Claire?"

Celia and Skye were both my friends, but I had already warned Skye about stealing from Celia. If he wanted to pick a fight, I was ready for it. "Celia, you're my best friend. Of course I'll help!" I told her, trying to lift her mood.

She looked up at me and smiled. "Thanks, Claire."

Marlin stepped into the conversation. "I know you've got the ranch and all, so I'm much obliged." He said.

"We'll need you here sometime between10 to 12 midnight. We'll be waiting in the house." Vesta informed me.

"Alright, I'll see you tonight." I told them all, before walking away.

I stopped at the bridge. I looked at the field and saw that Marlin and Vesta were headed towards it and Celia noticed when I looked over. It seems that she was watching me walk away. Celia turned around and I decided to walked back and meet her halfway.

"I really appreciate the help, Claire." She told me.

I shrugged. "It's no big deal. I'd do anything for you." I smiled.

She looked down again. "I guess you were wrong about the Phantom thief." She told me before she turned around and walked back to the field.

Before she was out of earshot, I decided to respond. "No!" She stopped, a look of confusion was on her face. "I don't think I was." I said, before turning around and walking away, back to the ranch.

Why did I just say that?

* * *

I looked at the time; It was almost 10pm. I was pacing around the house, thinking.

"He's bluffing. He has to be! Skye can't possibly be serious about stealing from my best friend! He must want to be with me again..." I said, mostly to myself.

I shook my head. Get it together, Claire. Skye is a thief! I can't really seem to understand that even though I've reminded myself for the last two seasons. I had to go help Celia, that's what I promised them, after all.

I headed out the door and to the path that lead me to Vesta's farm. Once I reach her farm, I headed off to the house.

I knocked and Celia let me in. "Hello Claire." She said. She looked even more worried than she did this morning.

"Hello." I said to Celia, before looking over at Vesta and Marlin.

"We'll get that lily-livered thief tonight!" Vesta shouted.

"You're awfully angry." Marlin commented.

"You better believe I am! That crook's after my precious vegetables!" She yelled.

I backed up. Vesta was scary when she was angry. "Let's go outside." I told them, then looked at Celia.

She still looked worried, but I'm pretty sure she was worried about me. She grabbed my wrist and led me outside. Marlin and Vesta followed.

"Are you worried about Skye?" I asked, then quickly corrected myself. "I-I mean, the Phantom thief?"

She raised a brow, then shook it off. "Yeah, just a little."

"Trust me, there's nothing to be worried about." I smiled at her, only so she could look at me suspiciously.

When we were all outside, Celia decided to speak up. "Maybe we need a strategy since this farm is so huge." Celia said.

"Yeah, you're right." Marlin agreed. "We'll split up in twos, hide in different areas, and ambush him!"

"That make sense." Vesta said. "So, Celia and Marlin, I want you two to take that field." She pointed to the north field. "Claire and I will hide in the opposite field."

We all agreed and split up to hide in our spots. As Vesta and I hid in the field, I began to wonder if Skye was really going to steal tonight. Skye never stole valuable items, he only stole things he could use for his curry, which explains why he didn't steal from Carter and Flora. It finally hit me, tonight he really was going to steal. And tonight, I really was going to catch him.

We heard a sound of footsteps and Vesta nudged me, telling me that Skye had appeared. She jumped out of the crops and I followed, causing Skye to notice and face us.

He chuckled. "So you were all waiting to ambush me, tonight."

I looked at Vesta, and she was getting angry. "STOP, THIEF! You ain't gettin' your grimy paws on my veggies!" She shouted.

He chuckled again. "Don't let such raw anger steal away your beauty."

I rolled my eyes. "Idiot." I muttered. That was the same line he used on Lumina. What? Was he already running out of compliments?

"You... you... you!" Vesta growled.

"He he." He smirked.

"Skye!" I shouted, causing him to turn and look at me. "Please stop stealing!"

He chuckled and smiled. "Are you worried about me?" He asked.

I blushed and looked away.

"Well, don't be. Like I said, It's not my time to be caught." He smirked, his arrogant attitude returning.

Then he looked at both of us. "CHICK-BEAM... FIRE!" He shouted.

"What's happening? I can't move!" Vesta shouted angrily.

Skye chuckled. "My work here is done. Time to jet." He said, walking away.

I stood there, wanting to run after him and strangle him, but couldn't. I sighed.

Vesta looked at me. "I'm guessing he's your friend." She said.

My eyes widen. How did she figure it out? I was worried she was angry at me for not telling her, but when I looked at her, her expression was normal.

I looked down and chuckled nervously. "Is it that obvious?"

"Well, not only did you call him Skye, but it seemed like you've had this conversation before. Something tells me this isn't your first encounter with the phantom thief." She said.

I hadn't realized it was that easy to figure it out. "Are you mad?" I asked sheepishly.

"Of course not." She said. "I'm just mad about that narcissist thief stealing my vegetables!" She shouted angrily.

I looked down and sighed. "I'll pay for whatever he stole." I told her.

She looked at me confused. "You'd do that for _him_?" She asked, disgust in her voice.

I nodded. "Skye may be a complete dumb ass, but I'm still his friend. His only friend. Besides, he's going to pay me back, one way or another." I said then looked at her. "Could you keep this between you and me? I don't want Celia finding out about this."

"You're keeping this from Celia? That's not something a best friend would do." She asked, looking a bit ashamed of me.

I sighed. "I know. I just want to tell her at the right time. I can't tell her after everything that's happened tonight, just please let me tell her on my own time. There's no guarantee she'll react the same way you did." I said.

"Well alright. But Celia is your best friend, and she wouldn't care about your friendship with a thief. She'll accept you the way you are. She always has and always will." She said, smiling.

I smiled. Vesta was right. She suddenly moved. "Hey, it looks like his spell wore off." She said. "Come on, let's go check on Marlin and Celia." She said, as she walked out of the field. I simply followed her.

We picked up our pace once we saw that Marlin and Celia were in front of Vesta's store.

"What happened?" I asked, running towards Celia.

"The phantom thief put a spell on her. He just left a minute ago." He said, pointing to the direction he escaped.

I quickly ran towards the path that lead to the Main area and once I reached it, I looked around. "Skye!" I shouted, but didn't see him or receive a response. I sighed and walked back to Celia, Marlin, and Vesta.

"He's gone." I said. "He just disappeared. "

Celia sighed.

It took a while before Celia could move again, and when should could, she looked disappointed and looked at the ground.

"We didn't get the phantom thief." She mumbled.

"And it's all my fault." Marlin said, looking at the ground as well.

"What's with all the long faces?" Vesta said. "Nobody got hurt, there's no nothing to be so sad about. He didn't foul up our crops too badly, anyway." She said.

Celia and Marlin looked up. "Vesta..." Marlin said.

"Tomorrow's another day. Just gotta keep working!" Vesta encouraged.

"That's right. Let's do our best!" Celia beamed, then they all turned to me. "Thank you so much, Claire." Celia said.

"Come back to the farm anytime!" Vesta told me.

I nodded. I turned and walked towards the Main Area. I was furious. I felt my face burn with anger, frustration and confusion. Why does Skye keep stealing? Why doesn't he care about my feelings?

Why am I friends with a thief?

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Finished! Finally! I'm sorry this took so long. Anyways, enjoy!

R&R!


	13. Forgive & Forget

**Author's Notes:** Well, Chapter 13! Hope you enjoy. Sorry if you guys don't like the Cliff and Claire part, but oh well!

* * *

_**Saturday**_

I woke up, and this time, Celia hadn't woken me up. I sat up in bed and thought about everything that happened yesterday. I was angry at everything that had happened, and I was mostly angry at myself for not being able to tell Celia anything.

I got up and headed out the door. It was rain, great. I loved the rain. I didn't have to water my crops on rainy days, and I just liked how the raindrops sounded against my window pane at night. It was just so relaxing.

I went of to my bird shed and fed the chickens. Once I finished, I put away the bird feed and began to head out the door. When I opened the door, It felt like something was blocking the door.

"Ow!" I heard someone yell. I closed the door and waited a while before re-opening it. To my surprise, it was Celia.

"Celia... I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were there." I apologized.

She nodded. "I must of opened the door just as you were leaving." She said, rubbing her head.

"I didn't know you were coming today..." I mumbled.

"Well, I kind of over-slept this morning... since we stayed up last night waiting for the phantom..." She stopped and looked up at me, her facial expression telling me she had figured something out. "...thief..." She finished.

I took a step back. "C-Come in, you're getting wet. " I said, moving away from the entrance to allow her to come in.

She nodded and walked in. "Claire..." She began. "You might think I'm crazy for saying this... but... by any chance, have you been meeting that thief?"

"N-No! Of course not! What could possibly make you think such a thing?" I asked nervously.

"Well, you tend to over-sleep a lot. You also make a lot of curry and... that thief smelled an awful lot like curry." She said, raising a brow.

I shrugged. "A coincidence, I guess."

She looked at me and shook her head. "You're right, Claire. That was a pretty silly thing to say! You're not the type to meet up with thieves! You would've arrested him the moment you saw him!" She began to laugh at herself.

"Yep... I would've gotten him arrested." I said, looking down. I remembered the first night I met Skye at the spring. I ran to contact authorities, but he stopped me.

She changed the topic. "Did you feed the chickens yet?" She asked me.

I shook my head. "Yeah, I just did."

"That's too bad... I wanted to help." She said.

"Yeah..." I said. "Well, you should get going. Marlin and Vesta might need you." I told her.

"You're right. I should get going. Sorry I couldn't help today, I promise I'll help tomorrow! See you later!" She said, before walking out the door and heading out in the rain.

I waited a bit before following her. I wanted to be with Rock today, so I was going to the Inner Inn. He didn't go out on rainy days, so he was sure to be in the lobby.

I walked out of the shed and headed towards the path that lead to the Main area. I began to make my way towards the Inn doors and went inside. I saw Rock, Ruby, Nami, Muffy and a bot who had purple eyes, a vest and brown hair.

That's strange, I haven't seen him around here before. "Hey Rock!" I said, heading towards him. I decided to ask him about the guy and see what he knew about him.

"Oh, Hi Claire." He smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm fine... Rock?" I began. He looked up at me. "What's up?" He replied.

"I've never seen that boy around here before... who is he?" I asked, looking over at the brunet. When I looked back, I saw a sly smile plastered across Rock's face. "Oh... So you like him?"

I growled. "Why do you assume I like every guy I see?" I don't like you, do I?" I shouted, causing a could of heads to turn my way,

"Oh really? Why are you still here, then?" He smirked.

I growled again. "S-Shut up!" I stuttered, folding my arms.

He laughed at me. "His name is Cliff. He's a pretty shy guy, he doesn't really talk unless directly talked to. He comes here from Mineral Town. Why don't you try to make friends with the kid?" He said, gesturing that I should go talk to him.

"I'm not the type to talk either..." I said, looking away.

"Alright then, I'll introduce you two, then! He said, beginning to push me towards Cliff.

I blushed. "R-Rock, It's okay! Really, I don't need you to intro-"

He cut me off. "Hey Cliff!" He shouted. Cliff merely turned his head then quickly looked away and blushed.

"This is Claire." He said. "She took over that run-down farm two seasons ago! I think it's time you two met!" Rock said, and awfully loud at that.

"Um.. Hello, Cliff." I said.

"H-Hi, Claire." He stuttered, refusing to look at me.

"I'll give you too some time to bond."Rock said, as he smirked and walked away.

I glared angrily at Rock, then looked back at Cliff.

"Nice to meet you, Cliff." I said, smiling warmly.

He kept looking away from me. "I-I get nervous when I talk to girls... the words don't come out fright... I mean, right." He stuttered, then quickly corrected himself.

I looked at him. He really is a shy person! "There's no need to get nervous, it's just me." I told him, trying to get him to calm down a bit.

"Um.." He said.

"Why don't we have a chat?" I asked him.

"A chat?" He said. "You mean like, with me?"

"Of course!" I said, smiling.

"O-Oh... Well.. I'm not very fun to talk to..." He looked away.

I stood there awkwardly. Cliff just shot down a chance for conversation, and I really didn't what else to say.

"Oh I'm sorry, since you asked and all..." He said. "Maybe I'll tell you what's been on my mind, OK?"

I smiled. "Sure! I'm all ears." I said.

"You live alone, right Claire? That itself must be a challenge. But don't you ever get lonely?" He asked me.

"Yeah, I get lonely.." I said. It was true, I didn't like being alone. I was always with someone. If I wasn't with Celia, I was with Rock. If I wasn't with either, I was with Skye.

He smiled. "I see. So you get lonely too, then. But it must not be too bad since you've got the nice valley folks and animals."

"Yeah, It really isn't that bad, to be honest." I said.

"Sorry to ask you weird stuff. It was just on my mind. Glad it's off my chest now." He said, smiling.

For a while, Cliff and I talked. Even though I had to ask him questions to get him to say anything. It was okay though, I wanted to be Cliff's friend, he seemed like a really nice guy, and I was really tired of hanging out with narcissist boys all the time.

"So what's your favorite food?" I asked. "Mine is definitely Buckwheat Noodles."

"I love Finest Curry." He said.

My eyes widened. Another boy who loved Finest Curry? "Seriously?" I said, in shock.

"Y-Yeah..." He stuttered. "Is there something wrong with that?" He asked, a bit hurt.

"No! Not at all! It's just..." I decided to take a chance, I was pretty sure no one in Mineral Town knew Phantom Skye. "My friend, Skye, He likes Finest Curry too."

"Skye? Is that his name? I've never heard of him before." Cliff said. "Really? He likes Finest Curry?" He smiled.

I nodded. "He loves it. I've made Finest Curry before, maybe one day I could make you some and we could eat it together." I offered.

"Really?" He asked. "I'd really like that!"

I smiled. I already had him. "Sure! Do you come to Forget-Me-Not Valley regularly?" I asked.

He nodded. "Only on Saturdays. Those are my days off." He said.

"How about next Saturday then? Around the afternoon?" I asked him.

He nodded. "I go to the spring during the afternoon." He said.

"Alright then, I'll meet you there next week." I smiled.

"So um.. about your friend... the one who likes Finest Curry." He began.

I got nervous. Was he starting to figure out who Skye was? Had they actually been robbed by Phantom Skye in Mineral Town, and Cliff had just forgotten up until now?

"Y-Yes?" I stuttered, not knowing what to expect.

"Does he live around here? I've actually never heard of a Skye in Mineral Town." He said.

I lowered my voice, especially since the Inn's lobby was crowded today. "Do you... know where we could talk privately?" I said.

"P-Privately?" He stuttered. "The kitchen's a good p-place... Ruby would let us in there, she doesn't mind."

"Good." I said, before walking towards the kitchen door. When I reached it, I looked back to see Cliff had stayed where he was, looking nervous. I gestured him to come over, and he did. I turned the doorknob and we both got inside.

He was blushing and looking away from me.

I sighed. Was he embarrassed to be alone with a girl too? I shrugged. "Listen... about Skye... I need you to promise not to tell anyone what I'm about to tell you..." I said. I couldn't believe I was about to confide a secret with a guy I had just met 30 minutes ago, but I really felt like I was going insane from keeping it bottled up for so long, and I need someone to tell. Cliff would be a perfect candidate, since doesn't live in Forget-Me-Not Valley anyways.

He simply nodded. "O-Okay."

I inhaled sharply. "Phantom Skye is a thief. I've been talking to him ever since he stole from one of the villagers. From then on, he's been stealing from the villagers here. He just stole from my best friend, yesterday." I said, frowning at the memory.

Cliff's eyes widened. "That's pretty shady, Claire. Friends with a thief? I didn't think you were the type to do things like that..." He said, a bit shocked.

I chuckled nervously. "He's a pretty arrogant thief, but... I want to change him. I'm his only friend and I hope that I can get him away from thievery. I really think he can do better than that. Please, don't tell anyone about this, Cliff. You and Vesta are the only people that know about my friendship with Skye and I don't want anyone else finding out about it... until I'm ready to tell everyone on my own time." I said, looking at the ground.

"Don't worry, Claire. I won't tell anyone." He smiled.

I looked up at him and felt a warm feeling rush through my body. It felt so good to let it out and tell someone how I feel about Skye. It felt even better knowing I could trust Cliff.

"Sorry I just poured out my feelings there, Cliff. I've only know you for less than an hour, yet I feel like your my best friend." I said.

He smiled. "I'm glad you could trust me with a big secret like that."

I sighed. "Can I just ask you for some advice?" I said.

"Advice? I'm not good at giving advice... I'll try." He said.

"Well... you know how I said Skye stole from my best friend yesterday? Well, I'm starting to doubt he's capable of change. I don't even know If I want to be friends with a thief who doesn't care about the way I feel..." I said.

"I may not really know Phantom Skye as well as you, but It looks like you need to give him a chance. He doesn't really know right from wrong if he's stealing, and If you take the time to actually be patient and want to help him better himself, I'd make you a better friend. You just need to believe in him." Cliff said.

It hit me like a brick. Everything Cliff had just said was true. Skye was making mistakes because I didn't bother to help him learn. I also don't have any faith in Skye, but If I do, then he might be capable of change. I smiled.

"Thanks Cliff, that was actually really helpful." I said. "It was real nice meeting you, I'll see you next week then." I headed for the door.

"See you around Claire." He said.

I walked out the door and smiled. At least I had one more friend in this strange place.

* * *

I waited by the spring, very angry at Skye. I was going to yell at him, no matter what Cliff said.

I'm a little skeptical as to Skye's capability to change, but I wasn't about to give up. I had also paid for what he had stole, so Skye needed to pay me back somehow, even if he was broke.

"Hello, lovely maiden." said a voice.

I turned around. "I hate you!" I shouted angrily. "And your stupid maiden beam!"

He simply chuckled.

"Lucky for you, I paid for the vegetables you stole. But let me remind you of something, mister. Did you forget _where_ I cooked your curry? Or were you not listening when I told you... Stay away from Celia!" I yelled, glaring angrily at him

He smirked. "I heard you loud and clear."

I growled. "Your just did that to piss me off, didn't you? You've got my best friend pretty suspicious already and her aunt already knows our secret. Do you want the whole town to go after you with pitchforks and torches?" I asked him.

He chuckled. "That seems a bit medieval, if you ask me."

"Hey, guess what? I didn't. So don't go opening your cocky mouth yet, you're not off the hook." I said, folding my arms.

"I had a feeling you'd react this way, so I'm willing to make it up to you." He said, as he handed me a porcelain bowl.

My anger receded as I looked at the content inside. There it was, Finest Curry, looking at least a million times better than my own curry.

"Finest Curry? You made it?" I said, a bit stunned at his motives.

He nodded. "Finest Curry, made with love." He chuckled.

I blushed. He had actually remembered what I had told him at the beach the night he 'stole' me.

"This looks delicious, Skye." I commented.

"I told you I'd like you to try it sometime. Think of it as my way of saying, 'I'm sorry'." He smiled.

I sighed. It was a sweet gesture, and didn't want to ruin it with a snide remark. "I accept your indirect apology." I said.

He chuckled and passed me a fork. We sat down on the ground to enjoy the meal sitting down. I looked down at the curry and I swore that I felt my mouth water. The smell was so alluring, and it looks like it was made with careful and gentle hands. He had pulled out another fork for himself and took a bite out of his own curry before I did.

"Wow..." He said, after swallowing. "This really is amazing. I guess you were right when you said it was missing love." He chuckled.

I blushed a bit. Just as I was about to have a bit of the curry, Skye snatched away my fork. "Hey!" I shouted, but he ignored me and scooped up the curry with my fork. Instead of eating it himself, though, he offered it to me. My blush darkened, and he smirked.

"I can feed myself..." I mumbled.

"I know you can, but I want to do it." He chuckled.

I made a face. "Why?" I asked, confusion in my voice.

"Because I want to." He replied, a smirk on his face.

"B-But it's embarrassing!" I complained. "I don't want-"

I was instantly cut off as Skye put the fork in my open mouth. I reluctantly chewed and swallowed the curry before objecting. Once I did, my eyes widened.

"This is absolutely amazing! It's delicious! I didn't think food could actually taste this good!" I beamed. Skye only seemed to smirk in victory, but I didn't mind at all. All I could think about was the curry. Food was my biggest weakness, especially when it was done right.

I tried to grab the fork to feed myself more of the curry, but Skye kept me from stealing it back. "Skye..." I whined. "It's so good! Please let me have my fork back!" I didn't really care if I was letting my pride go down the drain, all I really cared about was having more of the curry.

He shook his head. "If you want more, you're going to have to let me feed you." He said, smirking.

"Fine!" I shouted as I opened my mouth and waited for him to feed me more of the delectable food. I heard him chuckle.

"You're very adorable when you're weak." He said, as he guided the fork into my mouth again. I simply shrugged off what he said. "I guess I know what your weakness is."

I nodded as I swallowed the curry. "I can't resist good food. This is definitely to die for, kind of makes me glad that I met you." I said, as he put another bite in my mouth.

He smiled. "You mean that?"

I nodded. He waited for me to finish eating before I responded. "Of course! Skye, your cooking is absolutely amazing, why don't you just give up being a thief and become a chief? I know you can do better."

His smile faded. "If only it were that easy."

"What do you mean?" He fed me once more.

"No money means no ingredients. No ingredients means no curry. No money also means no way to travel. The only way I could gain money is if I get a job. I'd have to apply for one here, and we both know that's virtually impossible." He said, sighing.

"Oh... I see." I said, after swallowing the curry.

He simply nodded.

"You know Skye..." I began, causing him to look up at me. "If I were the owner of an famous and expensive restaurant, I'd hire you without a second thought."

He smiled. "Thanks Claire." He chuckled and fed me another bite of curry.

I smiled back and then looked down at the bowl. There was Skye's fork, and I wanted to get him back for embarrassing me this whole time.

I grabbed his fork and scooped up a piece of curry, and offered it to him. His cheeks flushed, and I got what I wanted. He hesitantly opened his mouth and I fed him the curry. Once I finished eating, I began to speak. "Not so fun being on the other end, huh?" I smirked.

He nodded in agreement.

We had spent the entire night talking and eating curry, that the time had gone by quickly and it was time for Skye to leave the valley.

He stood up and held out his hand to help me up. I grabbed it and he pulled me up. I handed him the empty porcelain bowl that once was filled with Finest Curry, and he began to say something.

"I had a lot of fun tonight, Claire." He looked at me as he smiled.

"I did too. Weird, because I usually go home with a migraine after a night with you." I joked.

He rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Very funny."

I smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, Skye." I said.

"See you tomorrow." He repeated. We both followed the path that lead to the Main area, then split up when we reached our separate paths. I entered the ranch and made my way to the farmhouse. For the first time ever,

I actually had fun with Skye.

* * *

**Author's Notes**: Finally finished! I had actually gone to a party and gotten so bored that I had start writing out most of the story on my phone. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it.

R&R!


	14. Stews & Stealing

**Author's Notes: **Sorry for the long wait! I actually had no internet for a while, so I spent the time writing. Anyways, onto Chapter 14! I think I should also add that a week has passed, so It's Sunday, Autumn 9. Not Autumn 3.

**In Japan, the bath/shower is in a different room then the toilet. So that's why there's two different rooms in the game. [Bathroom, Restroom.] I don't know whether 'quick shower' or 'quick bath' works, because you have to do both in the bathroom.

***The sentences that are italicized is what Claire's 'heart' is saying.

* * *

_**Sunday**_

I woke up to frantic knocking on my door. "Claire! Claire! Wake up! It's the Harvest Festival today!" Celia shouted. I sat up in bed, and stretched.

"Isn't Karen supposed to come today?" I asked confused. What difference did it make If it was a festival? Wouldn't Karen want to come along and enjoy spending the festival with her best friend?

"It's the Harvest Festival, silly! She's celebrating it with her family in Mineral Town!" She said. "C'mon! I don't want to be late. My auntie's going to be donating some vegetables to the stew! You should bring some ingredients too, Claire." She said, heading towards the kitchen.

I laughed at how ecstatic Celia was. Every time there was a festival or celebration, she would always come early in the morning and wake me up. Even though I had a calender when I first moved in, with the dates of all the holidays and festivities, I never bothered to look at them. Celia was like my personal reminder.

"Just take out whatever you think would be good to throw into the stew." I told her, as I looked for clean clothes. "I'll be in the bathroom, getting ready." I headed towards the bathroom.

"Okay, don't take long though!" She shouted and began to rummage through my refrigerator.

After a quickly showering and getting dressed, I came out to have Celia pulling me out the door.

"Let's go! It's almost 10am, we're going to be late!" She said, dragging me out of the house.

* * *

Celia and I had gone down to the beach by ourselves. Rock didn't want to come along, he said Ruby would bring him back some stew, and then asked me if I wanted to come around after the festival and hang out with.

"We'll see." I told him, before walking out of the Inn and heading towards the beach, Celia close behind.

We talked about random topics, from growing crops to town gossip, and then Celia finally brought up a topic I had dreaded since forever.

"Who do you like?" She asked.

I froze. I never told anyone about someone I had feelings for, especially since I've never had feelings for anyone. But ever since I had moved to this town, I forget what love is, or what it's portrayed like. What the movies and books say is all different then what your heart says, but I'm not even sure if I want to listen to either myself. The books tell me one thing, but my heart says another. The books tell me something I can bear listening to, but do you know what my heart says?

_You're falling in love with him._

I shook my head and smiled uneasily. "No one, really." I mumbled.

I could tell she wouldn't buy it. "Somehow I can see that it isn't completely true. I mean, you stay up all night, cook curry-" She poked my stomach and I jumped back a bit. "You say you eat it yourself, but I don't see you gain weight at all. In fact, you're actually _losing _weight."

I chuckled nervously. "W-Who do _you_ like?" I said, trying to turn the attention to her rather then myself.

"M-Me?" She blushed. "I... I like Marlin." She said, putting her hand on her cheeks, then realized she was blushing, and her blushed became more visible.

I nodded. She's got it bad.

"Well, do you like that shy boy from Mineral Town?" She asked, changing the subject.

I was taken aback by her sudden question. "You mean Cliff?"

Her smiled widened. "So you do like him! You even know who I was talking about!" She giggled.

I nodded. "He's just a friend, I met him last week and we had curry yesterday. Besides, he's only here on Saturdays." I stated, trying to keep Celia from jumping to conclusions.

She raised a brow then shrugged. "I'll dig a little deeper later." She said. "We're already here anyway." She headed towards the entrance of the beach and I followed. Marlin and Vesta had already gotten there, Ruby and Thomas were there, so were a bunch of people I had seen around town but never really gotten to know.

Celia turned to look at me. "My aunt already donated the vegetables to Thomas, you should probably talk to him and give him the ingredients." She told me. "I'll be waiting for you over there!" She smiled and headed towards Marlin and Vesta. I saw from afar that Celia was running fast, and somehow managed to trip over her own two feet. Before she could hit the ground, Marlin caught her. When they both looked at each other, they blushed and looked away. I smiled and headed towards Thomas.

"Hey! Claire! Did you bring the ingredients for the stew?" Thomas asked cheerfully.

I nodded and handed the ingredients to him.

"You want me to put this in? Okay, sure. Let's throw in and eat!" He said, as he climbed up the ladder and threw in my ingredients.

After waiting a while, Thomas began to pass out bowls filled with warm stew. When everyone had a bowl, we said grace and I began to eat the stew. Once everyone had eaten, I walked over to Celia.

She smiled. "That was SO good. Everyone used good ingredients."

I nodded. "It was amazingly delicious. Well, I better get going. See you tomorrow, Celia!" I said, before heading towards the path the lead to the turtle pond.

* * *

I was headed upstairs to Rock's room in the Inn. I decided to come by after all, just not for long, because I was going to make curry again, and something in the back of mind wished Skye would cook again, just so I could eat the delightful curry that tastes like it was made by a god. Not that Skye was a god or anything...

I knocked on Rock's door. "Rock, I'm here!" I said.

"It's open Claire!" He said, as I turned the doorknob and walked into his room.

"Hey Rock. How's it going?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Good, I guess. Must be going great for you, especially since you've found the love of your life." He laughed.

I blushed. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Everyone knows about you and Cliff. It's the talk of the town!" He said, laughing.

I rolled my eyes. "Just like Kai and I were the talk of the town? Or maybe like when _we_ were the talk of the town?" I scoffed. I couldn't have a guy friend without the town thinking they were my boyfriend.

He made a disgusted face. "_Us_? That's gross!" He commented, shaking his head in disbelief. "I can't believe people would actually say that!"

I folded my arms. "You see what I mean? Cliff, Kai, and you are just my friends! Nothing more! You probably shouldn't be the one to get sucked into town gossip, because you didn't even know what people were saying about _you._" I lectured. Damn, I don't get into town gossip, but at least I know what they're saying about me. Rock's a complete idiot. I know some people have probably said that behind his back as well, but it's best he doesn't know.

"Well... at least we've never eaten curry together." He smirked.

I blushed and groaned. Did he hear a word I said?

"We are just friends! I offered to cook him curry! He likes that type of food, and I was just trying to be friendly. Cliff's a nice guy, and trust me, it's like a breath of fresh air when I'm with him. You just cause stress!" I stated as I folded my arms. It was true, Rock was so irritating and full of himself. It was great to be with a different guy for a change. Why do you think I hung out with Kai most of the time?

"But you always come running back. Admit, you like being with me. It's because I'm so amazing." He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes. "You're my friend, stupid. You have to stick with your friends through thick and thin. Just because you're a complete idiot doesn't mean I should stop being your friend." I said.

He chuckled. "Right. That's why you hang around." He said, smirking.

I groaned. This kid really didn't get it. Did I need to throw a brick at his damn head to get him to understand?

"What ever!" I shouted, folding my arms.

"So, you never told me who you liked." He said, nudging me.

I froze and took a step back. Why was everyone on the topic of my love life? I didn't like anyone!

_Except for him._

I blushed then shook my head. "I don't l-like anyone. Really! Not Cliff, not Kai, and definitely not you! Why can't you believe that I don't like anybody?" I asked.

"Because your reaction and face says other wise. I can tell you like someone, just won't listen to yourself and admit you like him." He chuckled.

I growled. I didn't like anyone! Never did, never will! "Whatever!" I said, as I headed for the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, Rock. I have to go do something tonight." I began walk out.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then. Good luck with your boyfriend!" He teased, and I rolled my eyes. I closed the door and walked downstairs to the lobby, which would then lead me to the exit.

I had a feeling I had a long night ahead of me.

* * *

I was waiting by the path that lead to Mineral Town. Skye usually walked around town on Sundays, and I would join him. Mostly to make sure he didn't steal anything. I waited as I saw most of the town folks return to Forget-Me-Not Valley with tired faces, looking like they couldn't wait to get home after a long day of work. Once the clock his 10pm, he appeared, strolling confidently down the path. I rolled my eyes at his ego.

"Hello there, beautiful maiden." He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and handed him the curry. "C'mon, let's walk around town." I said, as I began to walk, then I felt myself jolt to a stop as he grabbed my wrist.

"Why don't we..." he paused then began to ponder. "What is that the maidens call it?.." I heard him mumble to himself. Then his face lit up and he snapped his fingers. He looked at me and then smirked. ".. go on a date?"

I took a step back and made a face. "A date? With you? A _thief? _You must be insane if you think I'd ever go on a date with you!" I cringed every time I said the word 'date',

He chuckled. "What if we don't call it that?.." He asked, with an arrogant smirk still frozen on his face.

I sighed then folded my arms. "Fine! But don't anything most people do on dates! Or I'll hit you so hard your whole entire generation is going to feel it!" I threatened coldly.

He laughed at me. "In all honesty, I've never really gone on a 'date' before. The maidens I've talked to always want to go on them, but I've never really accepted their offers before. I'm not even sure what you're supposed to do." He said bluntly.

"First of all, it's definitely not a date! Second, I can't believe _you _of all people has never been on a date before!" I exclaimed. It was shocking how such a womanizing thief has never been on a date!

"It's not my thing to go out with several maidens. I don't really flirt with girls unless I'm trying to make an escape." He shrugged. "But that's beside the point, if it's not a date, then what is it?"

I shrugged.

He chuckled. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter, let's go then." He said, as he began to walk towards the path that lead to the Main Area.

Skye and I walked around town, looking at the stars, talking about random things which sometimes lead me to scold him or hit him, and hiding from anyone out at this time.

I nodded my head. "I'm walking around town, trying not to get caught with a thief! Do you know how ridiculous that is?" I asked him.

He chuckled. "You could always walk away if you don't want to be seen with me." He said.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

We continued walking until we reach the turtle pond.

"Well, Claire. How about we spend tonight on the beach?" He asked.

I smiled. The beach was always my favorite place to be, even though the water was fairly cold this time of year, especially at night. "Sure." I said, and we both entered the beach.

"Since this is technically a-" I cut him off by covering his mouth.

"Don't say it!" I warned.

He chuckled and removed my hand. "A _thing, _then we have to do some romantic stuff, am I right?" He looked at me.

"Don't get too excited. Supposedly yes, but I'm not going any farther than a hug. You got that?" I poked his chest.

He chuckled. "Yes, ma'am." He replied. "Well, how about we permanently borrow that boat over there?" He pointed to the small boat docked at the shore.

I nodded. "You mean steal? No, of course not! You don't even steal things like that!" I shouted.

He chuckled. "You're right. How about we just borrow it?" He asked.

I nodded. "No way." I stated, folding my arms. "I'm staying right here."

He chuckled and nodded shamefully. "I guess I have to do it the hard way." He said, as hugged my waist and lifted me up in the air, throwing me over his shoulder like he did the night he 'stole' from Flora and Carter.

I screamed. "Skye! Put me down!" I began to struggle and hit him.

He chuckled as he walked to the boat. "Relax, I'll put you down in a bit." He said.

I sighed. It always went his way.

After reaching the boat, he began to put me down inside of it, but I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck as he began to put me down.

"No! Skye! Please! I can't swim! Don't put me down!" I pleaded, as he let go of me and put me in the boat. He already knew though, from night I first saw him at the Goddess spring.

I still had my arms wrapped around his neck, embracing him. He chuckled and patted my back. "Don't worry, I won't let you fall." He said, care in his voice. I blushed.

_But I already did._

I let go of him, trusting that he was going to keep me safe, and I let him get inside as well. The boat wasn't secured to anything, so we began to drift off.

He chuckled a bit at me as I clung on to the boat, looking at the water fearfully. I felt water hit my face and I jumped. He began to laugh. He had splashed water on me. I pouted.

"That's not funny!" I shouted.

He nodded. "It's hilarious." He said, continuing to laugh.

I rolled my eyes. "You're a jerk." I muttered.

"You're practically an adult and you don't even know how to swim?" He asked.

I sighed. "I know. I never have, I never will."

He nodded his head in shame.

"I love the beach, and I love water. I just don't like being in the water." I said, staring at the water.

He chuckled. "That's pretty ironic."

I sighed. "I'm aware..." I replied.

I looked at the water out in the horizon to see the moon lighting up the ocean.

"It's really beautiful, you know? Nature seems to work in wonderful ways." He commented.

I raised my brow. "What? Are you a tree hugger or something?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I'm just appreciating it's beauty. Wouldn't you agree that it's absolutely gorgeous?" He said.

"It is beautiful..." I said. "That's why I love it so much. I kinda of feel like it's better for the ocean to be admired rather than..." I paused and took a moment to think of the right word. "..._used._" I finally said.

He chuckled. "The sparkling blue water reminds me of your eyes, Claire." He said, as he began to lean out of the boat to run his finger on the surface of the water.

My blush darkened. "Are you just saying that?"

He nodded. "Of course not. I wouldn't go to this trouble for just any maiden." He said, smiling. "But I'd steal jewels and pearls just for you to be happy."

I didn't know whether to be happy or angry at that sentence. "Please, don't."

He chuckled. "Thank goddess you aren't the material type." He said.

I nodded. "I'm more worried about you. I wouldn't lie for any thief, you know." I admitted.

He smiled. "So we both care for each other..." He began.

"a lot more than others." I said, finishing the sentence for him.

He chuckled.

I smiled and leaned out of the boat as well to touch the water.

I looked at him and he was smiling warmly, but then his smile soon faded.

"Claire, I don't think you should-"

I interrupted him. "It's okay, I'm not going to jump in." I said.

"Yes, but the boat might-"

He was cut off by the sound of splashing water. The boat had flipped over due to the fact that Skye and I were putting more weight on one side. I began to panic as I felt ice cold water surround me.

"Skye!" I shouted, breathing uneasily. I flapped my arms, trying to keep my self afloat.

"Calm down, I'm right here." He said in a soothing voice, wrapping his arm around my waist. "Don't struggle, or we'll both drown." He said, as he began to swim to the shore.

I could hear my heart beating, like it was about to burst out of my chest. If I had listened to Skye, I probably wouldn't of flipped the boat over.

He reach the shore and he let go of me, but I quickly embraced him.

"It's okay... I'm not going anywhere." He assured me, but I didn't let go. "Claire, nothings wrong. You're safe." He stroked my back.

"I'm sorry I'm such an idiot." I mumbled.

"You're not an idiot. It's not your fault, no one is to blame." He said, trying to pry me off of him so he could look at my face.

"I am! I didn't listen, the boat tipped over and I almost drowned!" I shouted, angry at myself.

He picked me up and began to walk farther away from the water. I saw the boat floating in the water. "Skye, the boat." I mumbled.

"Don't worry about it, I'll get it later." He said, as he put me down far away from the shore. I reluctantly let go of him.

He sat next to me. "I'll stay here with you." He said.

I hugged my torso. "I-It's cold." I stammered.

He chuckled. "Water was pretty cold, wasn't it? Maybe I should take you home." He said. "You might get sick."

I nodded. "Y-Yeah."

He helped me up and we began to walk towards the exit of the beach. As we reached the turtle pond, I kept myself close to Skye. I was freezing cold, and he was surprisingly warm. I leaned close to him and he chuckled. He put his arm around me and we continued walking to path that lead to the Main Area.

By the time we had reached the ranch, it was 5am.

He let go of me and turned to face me. "It's time I left." He said. "Promise me you won't put yourself in any more danger?" He asked.

I made a face. "I don't put myself in danger all the time! That was just once!" I shouted.

He chuckled. "Try not to drown then. I wouldn't like it if you hung on to another man like that." He said, his smile fading away.

I blushed. "What?" I said, barely above a whisper.

"Oh, It's nothing." He said. "Goodbye, Claire." He began to exit the farm.

"See you." I said, and headed towards the farm house.

_He feels the same way._

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Woo! Finally Finished! I've had this idea stuck in my head for a while, It's about time I wrote it down.

Anyways, R&R!


	15. Yellow Sun

**Author's Notes:** Well, Yellow Heart Event! Hope you enjoy! With a big surprise for all of my readers, I'm sure you're going to absolutely enjoy. What is it? I guess you're going to have to read to find out. It's a short chapter, but good content inside!

* * *

_**Wednesday**_

I had woke up earlier than usual, since I didn't meet up with Skye last night. Every since the night of the Harvest Festival, he wasn't angry that I wanted to spend less time with him. I actually started to enjoy his company more and more, and Skye was actually a very sweet guy, he just refuses to show the world that side of him. It was fun being with him, and I could always rely on him. It just felt safe with him around.

After I had done my farm work, I was heading off the Inner Inn, to be with Rock today. Celia had something important to do today, hence the reason I was spending this morning with Rock.

I opened the door. "Hello Ruby!" I said. "Rock is upstairs, right?" I said, heading towards the stairs.

"Hi Claire. You came at good time." Ruby said. I froze and held my breath. Whenever someone said that or something likewise, I already knew who it was. I crossed my fingers and hoped that it wasn't him. I slowly made my way to the counter where Ruby was standing.

But I could literally feel my heart snap in two when she lifted up a letter. The little bit of hope left inside of me diminished when she began to speak again.

"We just got a note from that thief." Ruby said.

I suddenly heard the door slam open and Rock angrily storm in. "A note from that thief?" He yelled as he came up to the counter beside me.

Nami wasn't far behind when she walked in. "Ruby! I heard you got a note from that thief!" she shouted.

"Calm down." Ruby simply said. "Here's what the note says." She lifted it up close to her face and began. "I'm to waltz into the Inner Inn at 12 midnight. With Love, Phantom Skye."

Every time they mentioned him, it just made me feel worse.

"Waltz, huh? Sounds like a mighty bold thief." She said nonchalantly. "Ruby, you're being way to casual about this!" Nami said.

"Yeah! I mean this is a thief we're dealing with! I say it's a perfect chance to catch him and get famous!" Rock exclaimed.

I wanted to punch him. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Use Skye for his own advantages? What a self-absorbed idiot.

"That's not what I meant." Nami said.

"Maybe you're right. But how are we supposed to catch him?" Ruby asked, agreeing with them both.

"We'll help you. And Claire just came in! You'll help us too. Right, Claire?" He asked, hope in his tone.

I sighed. It was like one step forward then two steps back with Skye. When you think he's actually the person you weren't expecting, he turns around and becomes a insensitive bastard.

"Yeah, I guess so." I replied weakly.

They all smiled. "Will you, sweetie? That means a lot to us." Ruby said.

"Okay. But do you think we should ask anyone else?" Rock asked.

"A plan seems like it would be useful for this sort of thing." Nami suggested.

"Yeah. We've got until midnight, so let's make sure we come up with a good one." Ruby said. "That makes sense. Better take out time and mull this over." Rock stated, then began to head out the door.

"Yes. Let's remember to think." Nami said, then walked out after Rock.

"And Claire? I hope you can make it here sometime between 10 and 12 tonight." Ruby asked me.

I simply nodded and walked out of the Inn. I walked to the Goddess spring, I was confused and I needed to clear my head. No one else was at the Goddess pond, lucky for me. I walked up to it and looked at my reflection in the water. Kai had told me that there was a myth that the Harvest Goddess lived in the spring. He didn't believe it was a myth, and neither did I. So I looked at the pond and closed my eyes. I was going to make a wish.

_I wish Skye would stop stealing._

* * *

It was 11pm, and I was outside of the Inn getting ready to go inside and do the same thing I've

been doing to the past 2 seasons. Try and catch Skye. I sighed and hesitantly opened the door.

I walked in, then my eyes widened. Where was everyone? It was empty. I looked around, to see if anyone was in the Inn. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" I said. Then I heard yelling.

"It's the thief! It's Phantom Skye!" someone shouted for outside. I turned around and quickly ran out the door. I ran in the direction of the shouting. I ran up the path that lead to the four-way intersection in the Main Area. I couldn't believe my eyes.

Skye was running in the opposite direction towards me.

We both stopped, inches away from each other.

"Skye..." I managed to say.

He chuckled. "I don't have much time tonight. Could you sort of look the other way?" He asked me, probably already knowing my answer before I even spoke.

I had a decision to make. It was either turn him in, for all he has done to me and the town, or just let it all go.

I looked at him. "I never saw you." I told him.

His eyes widened, and there was a surprised look on his face. "Really? You'll cover for me? For a thief?" He asked, puzzled.

I blinked and couldn't believe what I was doing. "Yes." I reassured.

A light pink tint smeared across his cheeks, and he was smiling. "Much thanks, Claire. You're glowing with a vibrant beauty on this night." He said, as he began to make his was around me. I turned around to see him walk away, but he stood in front of me.

"How do I know you're not saying that to try and get away?" I asked, raising a brow.

He chuckled. "I'll prove it." He said.

He put one arm around my waist, pulling me close to him, and the other on my cheek. Our body's were pressing against each other, and he was looking into my eyes. I blushed, not sure what he was about to do, but I had an idea. Then, his eyes looked at something else, just below my nose. I knew what he was looking at, and I knew what he wanted to do.

I couldn't believe that a smooth-talking, arrogant thief was trying to...

"I'll steal a _kiss_ from you." He smirked.

Before I could object, he had already closed the distance between us and pressed his lips against mine. I could feel my heart beat fast, I was afraid he would hear it. He told me at the beach he would _never_ flirt with a girl unless he was trying to escape, much less _kiss _them.

As soon as it started, it was over. I looked at him, I didn't yell at him, I didn't hit him, and I didn't do anything.

He was smiling at me, stroking my cheek. For a moment, it felt like the world was gone, but he snapped back to reality when he heard the shouting again.

He unwillingly pulled his hand away and ran off. Not saying another word.

"Claire!" I heard someone shout. I turned around to see a mob of people heading towards me.

"Vesta, Marlin, and Celia came to help with the ambush! And then..."

Rock interrupted her. "Phantom Skye slipped right by us!" He exclaimed.

"We think he went this way. Uh..." She looked around. "Did he?" She asked.

I blinked, still in shock from what had just happened. "N-No." I stammered.

"You didn't see him?" Rock asked.

Marlin jumped into the conversation. "That thief's awfully slick." He said.

Celia spoke as well. "But he couldn't have gotten too far."

"Well maybe he went on over there!" Vesta suggested, and the group ran off in the other direction.

I sighed. I had lied to the whole entire town, and especially my best friend! That makes me feel horrible!

And Skye... kissed me. He stole a kiss from me, just to prove that every compliment he's said about me was... true. But I didn't reject him, I didn't hit him or anything. Why? Why did I cover for a thief? Why did I give Skye what he wanted, without making him work hard for it? Why did I contain to meet up with an arrogant thief?

I began to walk home, it was late and I was tired. As I made my way home, I finally found the answer to the questions I've been asking.

I was in love with Phantom Skye.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **YAY! KISS SCENE! :D I know you guys wanted that kiss scene, I just figured the Yellow heart event fit perfectly. You know how Skye takes a long pause before finally running off? I thought it was appropriate for him to kiss Claire at the time. I wish he had kissed Claire/Jill in the game as well. :( Honestly, what the hell is he doing standing there for like half an hour? Might as well kiss my character while your at it.

R&R!


	16. Truth & Tears

**Author's Notes: **Well, I'm really good at sneaking onto the computer, as you guys could already tell. Anyways, enjoy Chapter 16! Only 4 more chapters until the end!

* * *

_**Thursday**_

There I was, laying on my bed, looking up at the ceiling. I didn't want to get up, I didn't want to do anything. Celia didn't wake me up this morning, so I had gotten up later than usual. I had figured it was do to the fact that she stayed up with most of the town to try and catch Skye.

It was the first day of Winter, and I was under layers and layers of blankets. A chill had set in on the last days of Autumn, but now it was freezing cold. It began to snow, and I hate the snow. Snow is childish, it's annoying, and the worst part is that Winter is only useful for _romance. _Holding someone to keep warm, spending the Starry Night festival with the one you love, and mistletoe's. I _really_ hate mistletoe's!

I was confused. Skye had stolen a kiss from me, just like that. I knew that I was in love with that narcissist idiot, but did he really feel the same? Had he just taken it that far with me because I know his game? Was he just trying to throw me off and confuse me? Well, it worked. Because I'm completely baffled.

Even so, I knew one thing I had to do, and that was to finally tell Celia about Skye. I was done hiding it from my best friend, because she deserved to know the truth.

I sat up, letting most of the warmth escape my body. I stretched and began to get ready for the day ahead of me. Once I was ready to go outside, I opened the door, surprised to see Celia standing right in front of me, about to knock on the door.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, stepping back. "I didn't know you were going somewhere, I can come back another time." She turned around and began to walk, but I grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"I need to talk to you." I stated.

She looked at me then nodded. "Alright." I moved out of the way so she could come inside.

I pulled up a chair and sat down. I pointed to the seat in front of me. "Sit." I told her, and she instantly sat down in her seat.

I sighed. "Listen Celia... There's a reason why I've been staying up late and cooking curry for the past three seasons..." I said, looking at the ground.

She waited patiently for my answer.

I took a sharp breath then looked at her. "Phantom Skye." I simply said.

Her face lit up in astonishment. "The thief we tried to catch yesterday?" She asked.

I nodded. "That's not all, though..." I continued.

"There's more?" She asked.

I nodded once again. "I.. I'm in love with him..." I mumbled, blushing as I spoke.

Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open. I could tell she was shocked. "W-What?" She stuttered.

I sighed. "I'm in love with Phantom Skye." I repeated, in a louder voice.

I looked over at her and the surprised expression on her face changed from a smile that stretched ear to ear. I was taken aback.

"Why are you smiling?..." I asked.

She was giggling. "You're in love! You're finally in love!" She squealed.

"A-And you don't care that he's a thief? I asked, confused.

She shook her head. "Claire, I don't care if you're in love with a thief or the mayor, as long as you're happy, I'm happy." She smiled warmly.

I smiled back. Vesta was right. Celia accepted me for who I was and that would never change.

"So.. tell me everything!" She said, waiting eagerly.

I laughed at her enthusiasm.

I had told her everything from the night I first saw him at Lumina's mansion to yesterday's encounter. I had told her about the night he 'stole' from Flora and Carter, how he had told me that he had wanted to become a chef, the night that he cooked the most delicious dish in the world as an apology for stealing from Vesta's farm, the night that he had taken me to the beach as a 'date', and last night, where he had stolen a kiss from me.

"He kissed you?" She exclaimed. "That must have been so romantic!"

"It didn't feel romantic. Especially since I don't know if he feels the same way... Skye is the type that plays with girls' hearts. How do I know he's serious about... me?" I asked Celia.

She nodded her head shamefully. "He kissed you! He doesn't kiss girls, he just flirts with them to try and escape! This isn't just a crush... I think he feels the same." She said.

It was true, but I doubt Skye was in love with me. I'm just a plain girl, who inherited her father's farm. Am I really someone a thief could love?

Celia looked over at the time and she quickly stood up. "I should get going, Vesta and Marlin are going to need me soon! Sorry, I couldn't help with the farm today. I'll help you tomorrow." She started to head for the door, but before she left, she turned to look at me. "Are you going to see him tonight?" She asked.

"Y-Yeah... Why?" I asked timidly.

She smiled. "I'm going to help you cook tonight! Anyways, see you later!" She said cheerfully, before walking out the door.

* * *

I was headed off to the Inn, not really sure how everyone would react to Phantom Skye, and whether it was a good choice to tell them the way I feel about him. Once I reached the doors of the Inn, I pulled them open and stepped inside.

"Hey Ruby!" I said, waving.

"Oh, Hello Claire!" She said. "It's too bad we couldn't catch that thief last night."

I didn't really know what to say, so I just nodded. I headed up the stairs, looking for Rock. It was too early for him to head to the beach, so I knew just where he'd be. I walked down the hall that lead to Rock's room and I knocked. "Hey Rock! It's me, Claire!" I shouted.

"It's open!" He replied.

I turned the knob and walked inside. "How's it going?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Good, I guess."

I smiled.

"It sucks that we couldn't get the Phantom thief, would've been great to be rich and famous." He said.

My smile faded away. "Well, it's not necessarily a good thing to-"

Rock cut me off. "And put that rotten thief in his place! It just would've been awesome if we could of caught him."

I didn't say anything, but I didn't like what Rock was saying about Skye.

"He's just another guy who thinks he can get what he wants just because he's pretty. I bet he's just an insensitive jerk." He said, nodding his head.

Even though Skye was an arrogant thief, there was depth and care in him, whether or not Rock could see that. I don't care who he is, he doesn't know Skye, so I was going to correct him.

"Listen here, blondie. You know absolutely nothing about Phantom Skye. So don't go around judging a book by it's cover without reading the contents inside!" I shouted at him, putting my finger on his chest and poking him with every word I said.

A smile crept on his face and he began to laugh. "I knew it! I knew you had feelings for him! I absolutely knew it!" He continued laughing, and I was completely confused.

"What?" I said.

He seemed to have ignored me. "I mean, why else would you kiss him?" He said, laughter fading away a bit.

I blushed furiously. "I did not kiss him!" I shouted.

He nodded his head. "Don't deny it, I saw you two by the Inn last night. I saw how he kissed you and how you two were all lovey-dovey." He teased, and started to laugh harder.

Someone had saw us, and worst of all, it was Rock! "Did anyone else see?" I asked, worried.

"Nope, just me. I bet you're happy he kissed you. "He teased, a sly smile smeared across his face.

My blush darkened.

He laughed again. "I finally know who it is! This is great! I was expecting Kai or Cliff, but Phantom Skye? That's even better!" He was literally about to start rolling on the floor with laughter.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever!" I shouted, folding my arms.

Rock continued to tease me and I was still upset about the whole thing. Out of all the people, in the whole entire world, Rock saw us. I'd rather have a cop see us together.

After a while, I decided to get serious with Rock.

"So... you're completely okay with the fact that I'm in love with a thief?" I asked.

He nodded. "What's wrong with that? You're happy right? As long as you're happy, I'm okay with it. Even though it doesn't seem like I care, you're like a little sister to me." He said, his nonchalant attitude remaining regardless of the kind words.

I smiled. It was nice to know deep inside that idiot's head, there was some care.

"But like a little sister, I have to make your life miserable." He said, chuckling. "Which means I'm going to tease you about it."

I sighed. "Lovely." I muttered, sarcasm in my tone.

Maybe telling the truth wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

I waited by the Goddess spring, not really sure if I was going to bring up the topic with Skye. Should I bring up the fact that he kissed me before running off, or why he had? Should I ask him if he has feelings for me? I had never been in love before, so I had no idea how it worked. I had no idea how I was supposed to react to the situation. Then I realized, Why did _I_ have to bring it up? I decided that I wasn't going to say anything unless Skye did. So I just waited by the pond.

At midnight, he finally appeared. He didn't greet me, and I handed him the curry I always made him.

We both remained quiet.

I finally decided to break the silence. "So... what did you steal from the Inn?" I asked, looking at the ground.

"Just some things." He said. "Not that it concerns you."

I made a face. "What do you mean it doesn't concern me?" I said, a bit angry. I stayed with Skye through thick and thin, he was my best friend, and now he was going to tell _me _it's none of my concern?

"It's none of your business, that's what it means." He said, coldly.

What the hell?

"So what, are you saying that I should just forget everything we've been through and treat you like a thief?" Even though I insulted him and hit him, I never really did treat him like a thief, I just treated him like a person. Not once did I try to turn him in, even though I knew everything.

"Exactly what I'm saying." He turned away.

I could feel my heart snap in two.

"... Why?" I managed to say, barely above a whisper.

"I just think it's better that we aren't friends anymore. In fact, we shouldn't even be talking right now." He said again.

"But why? What's wrong with our friendship?" I asked.

"Did you just hear yourself? What's wrong with our friendship? I'm a thief, Claire. You're a farm girl. I think it's best if you aren't part of my plans anymore."

"What... I... I don't understand what you mean. Suddenly you don't want anything to do with me?" I asked. I was confused! What could I have done to make Skye... say this?

"When you covered for me... It didn't seem right. I don't want you to lie just because of me. You aren't like that Claire." He said, refusing to look at me.

"But I want to-"

He cut me off. "Claire. Please. It's not right, and I don't want to hurt you."

"Well it's too late." I said, anger and sadness in my voice. "Because you're already hurting me."

"Not for long." He began, then finally looked at me. He walked towards me, and put his hand on my cheek. "I promise this is the last time I'll hurt you."

I never cried, I was always a strong girl. I didn't cry when my father died, and I didn't cry when my life began to fall apart around me. But in this moment, I wanted to cry. I wanted to burst into tears and cry my heart out. The man I loved, wanted nothing to do with me. It was hurting me inside.

"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling my eyes water and a pool of tears forming at the corner of my eyes.

He pulled his hand away and began to walk down the path that lead to the Main Area. I didn't stop him yet, I just watched him walk away. Once he was out of sight, I ran after him. I already knew what happens when Skye gets out of sight; he disappears. But I had hope that tonight, he would still be there. I continued to run, but once I reached the Main Path, he was gone. No sign of him.

I wanted to just break down right there and cry, but I didn't. I just began to walk, back home. I promised myself I wouldn't cry. I walked down the path that lead to the ranch. It was a cold night, and all I wanted to do was lay in bed, and stay there, possibly for the rest of my life.

On the whole way home, I only let one tear escape from my eyes.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Horrible, just horrible. I hate this chapter. Not because Skye left Claire, because I hate writing things that aren't funny! Especially angst. But I promise, no more sadness. And best of all, next chapter will be only Skye and Claire! No Rock, No Celia, just Skye and Claire! Hooray!

R&R!


	17. Cold & Confessions

**Author's Notes:****This chapter's been edited! I'm back bitches!

* * *

_**Friday**_

I was shuffling through snow, on my way to the spring, for the 17th time in a row. I had already lost count of the weeks Skye's been missing, but all I know is, that they've been long.

Today was the 23rd, the day you would ask someone to the Starry Night Festival. I hadn't received any invitations, but it's not like I wanted any. I only wanted to go with one person, and that person was gone.

Celia was disappointed when I told her about Skye's departure. _Why would he do that? _She would always ask. _It __just doesn't make any sense!_

But that was Skye. Sometimes I could knew him like the back of my hand, and other times his motives just didn't match up with him.

Then I told her if Skye ever came back, I would confess my feelings. I would bring up what happened the night he kissed me, and I would stop being afraid.

Afraid of rejection.

So, I waited. Like every other night, not thinking it would be any different from any other night. I peered over the pond and stared at my own reflection.

"Why do I continue to come here? He's obviously not coming back." I said to myself.

_He might, you never know if you don't hope for it. _

I sighed. "It's hard to have hope when it's been trampled on." I muttered.

_He definitely loves you, and he'd prove that by coming back. If he really loved you, he wouldn't be able to stay away from you._

"If he really loved me." I began. "He wouldn't of left me all alone, brokenhearted. He's nothing but an useless thief!" I shouted, and splashed the water, destroying the mirror image of myself.

I leaned against the tree once more and shook my head. I was talking to myself, great. I'm completely sure that I've lost my mind. The worse part is, that _he's_ the one making me crazy.

The later it got, the more I believed that he wouldn't come, until the clock struck midnight, and there was no sight of him. I stood up, looking at the moon.

"I thought you said you cared for me, Skye! Why the hell did you leave, without at least giving me a reasonable explanation! That's not what a best friend would do! You don't care at all, do you?" I shouted, as if I was really talking to him. I could feel the pool of tears form in the corner of my eyes again, and I blink to keep them back.

"Of course I do." I heard a voice say.

I turned around, and I couldn't believe it.

There he was, looking straight at me. I shook my head and blinked a couple of times, just to make sure my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. I began to walk forward, my hand stretched out to touch his face, to make sure it was actually him.

"S-Skye?" I stuttered.

He didn't say a word.

A flow of feelings rushed through me, but there was only one that took over me the most.

"You insensitive bastard!" I screamed, and slapped him across the face.

"Ow!" He staggered back a bit and began to shield himself.

"You narcissist jerk! You arrogant idiot!" I shouted, as I hit him.

I continued to attack him until he eventually fell back, then I caged him down, pinning his arms above his head and my knees hugging his waist.

"What would possibly make you think that disappearing for three weeks wouldn't hurt me? Are you really that oblivious to my feelings?" I yelled.

He didn't respond, he just stared at me.

"You're my best friend! I care about you! I covered for you the night you stole from the Inn because I want to protect you! I want you to stop stealing!"

"Why?" His expression showed confusion.

I felt heat rush to my face, and I took a deep breath. "I like you, Skye! I like you a lot! I love you!" I shouted, and I could feel my heart pound. "But to you... It's all just a joke!" That's when I realized a drop of water hit Skye's cheek, and he flinched. I was crying, and I hadn't even noticed. I quickly let go of him and got off.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, as I wiped the tears that were running down my face.

"Claire..." I turned to face him.

He quickly closed the distance between us and pressed his lips against mine. He put his arms around my waist, and I wrapped mine around his neck, deepening the kiss.

It was all I wanted.

We reluctantly let go of each other to breath. I looked at him as I caught my breath, and he smirked.

"What?" I asked.

"So you finally fell for me." He chuckled.

"Oh my Goddess!" I exclaimed. "Way to ruin the moment, idiot!" I pushed him playfully, and he began to laugh.

"I can't help it, I never thought I'd ever fall for a maiden, but..."

"You... you..." I couldn't managed to get the words out.

"Love you back? Of course. I can't get you out of my head." He chuckled, blushing a bit.

"Why did you kiss me that night you were going to steal from the Inn?" I asked.

"Mostly because I've always wanted to kiss you." He said, and my face flushed. "But it was also for you to get your feelings figured out."

I made a face. "I've had my feelings figured out!" I objected.

He chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Okay, sure." He said sarcastically.

"You didn't have you feelings figure out either!" I shouted.

"Why do you think I ran off? I was afraid that kissing you was a foolish mistake. I didn't know if you'd feel the same, especially you, since you've never really shown me any signs of falling in love." He said, looking away. "But I probably should of figured it out the night I told you I was leaving. You looked very hurt. I thought it was just because you'd miss your friend. I apologize for being so ignorant."

"It's not all your fault, I guess." I began. "I should of told you how I felt that night."

We both remained quiet for a moment.

He chuckled and broke the silence. "Tomorrow is the Starry Night Festival, would you like to spend it together?" He asked, changing the subject.

"What do you think?" I asked sarcastically.

"I take it that you do." He chuckled. "I'll be at your house at 6pm. Wait for me. And don't worry, I won't steal anything." He said.

I rolled my eyes at him.

For a while, we just enjoyed each others company, until I decided to say something that had been on my mind.

"I hate winter." I informed him.

He raised a brow at my random statement. "Why?" He asked.

I looked down at the snow, making a disgusted face. "Because of snow! It's immature, and irritating! It's pretty for the first couple of days, but then it's just a-"

I was cut off by a white cold slush hitting my face. I flinched and wiped the snow off my face. I shot a look at Skye, who was laughing.

"What the hell, Skye!" I shouted. "This is what I mean by-"

He interrupted me. "Immature?" He asked, as he threw another ball of snow at me.

Luckily, I dodged it. "Yes! Stop that!" I shouted, but he continued to throw them at me.

I growled and grabbed a chunk of snow, forming it into a neat ball. I threw it, and it hit him.

"Hah!" I shouted in victory, as I grabbed another chunk of the cold substance to throw at him.

He ran away behind a tree for cover, and I did the same. I began to throw snowballs at Skye, and he was doing the same.

After I ran out of them, I hid behind the tree for a while, waiting for to continue. I didn't hear anything, so I decided to peak. I stuck my head out and looked around. I didn't see anything.

Then I felt arms wrap around my waist and I jumped a bit.

"I win." He whispered in my ear.

A pink tint appeared on my face once more, and I turned to face him.

"There's another reason why I hate winter." I grabbed his hands.

"What is it?" He asked, our fingers intertwining.

"It's cold." I said, and he chuckled.

"I can fix that." and he pulled me into an embrace.

He held me close for what felt like a moment, until he sighed. "I should get going." He said.

As wonderful as it all felt, it all had to end soon, right?

I hesitantly let go, and he kissed my forehead.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He said, before leaving.

He really did win.

* * *

_**Saturday**_

I had told Celia about Skye's return, and she was absolutely ecstatic. So tonight, she was going to help me get ready. I told her I wasn't going to get dressed up, but she said that Skye had left once, and it was time to show him what he'd lose if he left again.

"You need to wear a dress!" She said.

"But I don't have a dress..." I sheepishly answered.

"I knew you'd say that, what do you think is in the bag? I went to Mineral Town a bit after you told me about Skye coming over, and I decided to buy you a dress for the occasion!" She pulled out a red dress.

I stared at it. "That's... pretty bold." She handed me the dress.

"Of course! It's perfect!" She smiled.

I looked at the dress. I felt it with my fingertips, and the fabric was soft and silky, I figured it must of cost her a fortune. "I can't take this." I told her.

"No! Don't worry! It didn't cost me a thing! My aunt Vesta knows someone who makes high quality dresses in Mineral Town, and she offered to give me her best one for free!" She beamed.

"I don't know if I could pull it off though.."

"Don't be silly!" She began to push me towards the restroom. "Go change! Quickly!" She shouted, and closed the door.

I sighed. I looked down at the dress, then I looked at myself in the mirror. I didn't like the combination at all. I leaned against the door, placing my face on the frame. "Do I _have_ to wear this dress?"

"Claire..." She whined. "Do you want to lose Skye again?"

I made a face even though she couldn't see me and sighed once more. "Alright, Alright. I'll put it on."

I removed my overalls and unbuttoned my plaid shirt, and stared at myself for a moment. I looked at the dress once more then pulled it over my head.

"I'm done, just pull up the zipper for me." I asked and opened the door.

She gasped. "It's beautiful! I didn't know you had such form, Claire!" She said as she turned me around and zipped up the dress.

"I didn't know either... I'm not really the type to wear dresses..." I looked in the mirror, realizing that Celia was right.

"He's really going to like this." She giggled.

Celia stuck around for a while, determined to make me look good. Before I knew it, it was almost time for Skye to arrive. She had to leave and get ready, she was spending the Starry Night Festival with Marlin at 8pm.

"Wow, Claire. You look absolutely amazing!" She grabbed her things and headed out the door. "See you tomorrow! Tell me how it went!" With that, she headed out the door.

A bit after she had left, I heard a knock on the door.

I heard a chuckle. "Good evening, could you let me in?"

I unlocked the door and took a step back. He looked at me and his eyes widened. "You look... amazing."

I sheepishly smiled and he stepped inside. "You waited just like you promised. Thank you, I'm glad." He smiled, but he quickly scanned the table, then the kitchen. He frowned. "...By the way, isn't there anything to eat?"

My eyes widened. Crap! I was so busy getting ready that I forgot to cook something. I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

He chuckled. "Did you forget?"

Before I could respond, he began to speak again. "Don't worry about it. I brought my special curry mix just in case something like this happened. I've got vegetables too. Let's make curry together, then we can celebrate the festival afterward."

I nodded my head, and smiled sheepishly. "I think it's better if I just watch, I'm not a very good cook, after all..."

"Aw..." I heard him say. "Now that wouldn't be any fun, now would it?" He chuckled and grabbed my hand, leading me into the kitchen.

"I _really_ think I should just watch..." I took a step back, trying to get out of cooking.

"I'm not the one who forget to cook food for her guest, after all. Why should I be cooking?"

"Hey!" I shouted, waving a finger a him. "I was doing you a favor!"

He shook his head. "Don't lie to me, Claire. You can cook, you make me different dish every night. You can even cook Finest Curry!"

I glared at him, remembering how complicated it was to cook Finest Curry. "Most of the time, I have Celia helping, and she's doing most of the cooking anyways. But it is a pain in the _ass_ to cook that freaking dish!" I shouted. "You are so lucky I waste my time and patience cooking for you."

He laughed. "Alright, would you at least pass the ingredients or something of the sort? You won't do any cooking tonight, I promise." He smiled, and pulled me to his side.

I let out an exasperated sigh. He was so persistent.

Once the food was cooked, we had sat down to eat.

He picked up my fork and scooped up some curry. He moved the fork towards my mouth and I turned my head away, and snatched the fork away from him, trying my best not to drop food in the process. "I can feed myself!" I informed him.

He chuckled. "I know, it's just fun to mess with you." He told me, as I began to eat.

I made a face then swallowed. "Why?" I asked, folding my arms angrily while I waited for his reply.

"Your reactions make everything so enjoyable." He chuckled, taking a bite of his food.

"My reactions? I'm not here for your amusement, Skye." I growled, as he chuckled again.

"I know. You're here because you're desperately and hopelessly in love with me." He smirked, guiding a forkful of curry into his mouth.

I blushed furiously. "I-I'm not desperately and hopelessly in love with you..." I mumbled, trying to finish my food as fast as possible.

He chuckled, then put his finger under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. "But you _are_ in love with me." He whispered gently, smirking because he knew he was right.

I removed his hand. I continued to eat without saying another word, but from the corner of my eye I could see a cocky smile plastered across his face.

Once we finished our food, I stood up, picking up both plates and heading towards the kitchen to wash them. I only got to set them down in the sink, though. Before I could even turn on the faucet, Skye grabbed my hand and swiftly head towards the door, not even giving me time to blink.

"Wait! Where are we-"

He cut me off. "Let's just go." He simply said, as he began to walk.

I shivered and shook my head, taking a step back. "No, it's t-too cold out here and I'm wearing n-nothing but a dress." I stuttered, letting go of his hand and rubbing my hands against my arms for warmth.

He chuckled. "Here." He said, as he removed his jacket, and placed it on my shoulders.

"Wait, won't you be cold?" I asked, looking at him. He was wearing nothing else but a black shirt.

He shrugged. "I don't mind. Besides, I like the cold." He chuckled, as I put on his jacket. "That still looks absolutely adorable on you."

My face flushed. "Shut up!" I growled, as I grabbed his hand once more and let our fingers interlace.

"Your hands are cold." I said bluntly.

He chuckled. "C'mon, let's go." He insisted and continued to walk the snow-covered cobblestone path that lead to the main area. Once we reached the intersection, he instantly took left, the path that would take us to Lumina's mansion.

"Oh Goddess.." I groaned. "Please tell me you do not plan on stealing something from Lumina _again_." I shot him an exasperated look, and he simply rolled his eyes.

"I already told you, I'm done with that.." He muttered, then suddenly stopped.

I stared at him, not sure why he had stopped walking. He was looking back. "Someone is coming." He whispered, and I began to panic.

I looked at him. "Hide!" I whispered, and pushed him into a hedge, and I followed him shortly.

"What the hell?" He whispered violently, and I quickly covered his mouth. "Shut up!" I hissed, then waited. I heard footsteps coming closer and closer, and my other hand, which was on Skye's chest, began to grip his shirt. My grasp got tighter and tighter every time the footsteps' volume increased. Once I heard the steps fade away, I let go of Skye's shirt.

"That was close..." I sighed, then looked up at Skye. His trademark grin was frozen on his face.

"You know, if you want me_ that _bad, you could of asked." He chuckled. I looked at him, confused. I had no idea what he was talking about.

"What do you mean?..." My voice trailed off as I looked down. I was sitting in a suggestive position on his lap, facing him. My face reddened, and jumped back a bit, falling out of the bush and onto the snow that covered the walkway. He began to burst into laughter.

I stood up, stamping my foot. "You're such an ass!" I yelled, folding my arms.

Once he caught his breath, he got out of his hiding spot and pulled me into an embrace. "I'm sorry, it's just.. your reaction was priceless." He chuckled.

I refused to hug him back, my arms still folded. "Shut the hell up, Skye. Just shut up." I told him, pushing him away from me.

He chuckled once more as he put his arm around me. We continued to walk down the path to Lumina's mansion, and finally reached the fountain in front of the home.

"I doubt you know the people who live here." I stated, wondering what Skye was going to do. He began to walk towards the cherry blossom tree, which had shed all it's leaves and was completely bare, that was next to the mansion. I followed, and when we got to the trunk, he looked up at the tree, then at me.

"Come on." He began. "Let's get on the roof." He grabbed a branch and lifted himself into the tree. He looked down and held out his hand.

"W-What? Get on the roof?" I shouted, and he sighed heavily.

I put my hands on my temple for a moment before I responded. "I'm going to assume that you haven't completely lost your mind, and ask... Why the hell would I want to get on the roof?" I growled. "I don't know if you've noticed, Skye... but these shoes weren't made for climbing a freaking tree!"

He rolled his eyes at me. "Then take them off." He simply replied, not really realizing the importance of the matter. "They'll still be there by the time you get back."

"Take them?-" I stopped and sighed. "Okay, whatever. I'll climb the damn tree, but you owe me for this!" I said, as I kicked off my heels and grabbed his hand. He pulled me up and we began to go branch-to-branch until Skye stopped. The distance between the branch and the roof wasn't close enough, so I wondered how we'd get across.

Suddenly , Skye had disappeared from my side and jumped from the branch to the roof so quick, I had almost missed it.

"Alright, jump. I'll catch you." He said, extending his arms out.

"What? You want me to jump? Do you know how many floors this mansion has?" I shouted, retreating and embracing the trunk of the tree. I looked down, scared of the consequence this might bring.

"Claire." He said, and I looked up at him. "Do you trust me?"

"Frankly, no. I don't." I replied.

He sighed. "I'm serious, Claire."

"So am I."

He frowned and looked at me. I could tell he was really frustrated. He took a deep breath, then looked at me again. This time, it was that look. The look he had given me last night, the night that he took me on a 'date', and the night we kissed. Everything we had put each other through, all the problems we had overcome together, and after that, he was still here.

"Do you trust me?" He asked once more, and I let go of the trunk and slowly made my way towards him, until I reached the end of the branch. I stared at him, and nodded. "Yes." I said, and bent my knees, getting ready to spring forward into his arms. I extended them and jumped with all might over to the roof, closing my eye, not wanting to see anything at all. Before I knew it, I was in his arms. I slowly opened one eye, then the other. He was smiling.

"I caught you."

I smiled back.

We laid next to each other for a while, staring at the sky, not saying anything at all. Skye finally broke the silence.

"You know, Claire. I've never felt this excited with a woman before, but you..." His voice trailed off and he chuckled. "I care a lot about you, Claire. The fact that you actually give the time of day to a thief like me... It means a lot."

"Don't say that, Skye. You're just as important as the next guy." I said, getting closer to him.

He shrugged, incredulous about my kind words. "As a thief, you know that one day I will get caught. If I do, I want you to have something to remember me by." He undid the necklace around his neck, and handed it to me.

"That necklace is very valuable to me, it's been with me for as long as I can remember... I'd like you to have it." He said, smiling warmly at me.

I looked at the necklace and shook my head. "I can't have this. There's no way I could possibly keep this." I told him, handing it back. He grabbed the necklace, and instead of taking it back, he threw my blonde hair over my shoulder and put the necklace around my neck.

"Promise me you'll wear this for as long as you live." He said, grabbing my hands.

I looked up at him and nodded. "I promise."

He stared at me intently for a moment, and thinking about what he said about being caught, really gets to me. Even though he promised to stop stealing, he can't change the past, and the people of the valley would want to punish him for all the unjust things he has done. It made me wonder whether or not I could actually be able to tell anyone else about him. I smiled at him, knowing how much I'd miss him if left. "I love yo-"

I was cut off. Something soft and warm was preventing my mouth from moving. Skye held his lips to mine for an instant, and then leaned back to look at my expression.

"I love you, too." He whispered, and held me close to him.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Better right? I hope so. The Starry Night Festival came out a lot longer than I had originally planned, but it's okay. The longer the better right?

Any who, R&R!


	18. Blue Feathers

**Author's Notes: **The moment you've all been waiting for, I wouldn't want to spoil it though, guess you're all going to have to read and see! This might be a short chapter, well, at least I think it's short, sorry for that.

And I just have to mention this, but this review definitely deserves a cookie. After what, 17 chapters? (and the reference in Chapter 8.) I was waiting for someone to notice Claire's personality, and Failisse is so fucking boss for noticing. Hehe. Yeah that's all I had to say.

*Claire's birthday? Well, I was born December 30, and I have her as Winter 30 in the game, so I decided it would be a good story idea. That's the reason why she said spring wasn't too far away, because after the Winter 30 it's New Year's Eve, then it's spring. As for Nami, I hope didn't make her too OOC. I'm not really sure how she would react.

* * *

_**Thursday**_

_'Tonight I'm going to steal your heart away.'_

_Yours Truly, Phantom Skye._

"Well... maybe he's going to..." Celia sighed heavily. "I don't know! This note sure is confusing though, why would he leave a note saying he's going to steal your heart away? It just doesn't make any sense." She stated, as she continued to examine the note.

"I just woke up this morning and it was there. I didn't know what it meant, I was hoping you would know..." I said, fiddling with my fingers, realizing that Celia didn't understand it either.

I groaned. "He's so confusing, I swear." I threw myself back onto her bed and looked up at the ceiling. I was upstairs in Celia's room, hanging around until she had to go downstairs to help Vesta.

"I tell you, men are really confusing!" She shouted, and folded her arms angrily, but I still noticed a light pink blush appear on her cheeks. Marlin had said something a couple days back about wanting to protect her, but he stopped speaking to her since then. I figured it he was simply embarrassed about what he had said, but Celia refused to listen to my logic.

I shook my head at her. "I'm telling you, he's just embarrassed about what he said! It has nothing to do with you!" I told her as I sat up.

"Hmph!" She kept a pout on her face and again denied it. Even though Celia was my dearest friend, she could be so silly at times. I stood up and walked towards the railing that bordered the stairs. "I'm gonna go now, see you later Celia." I said before walking downstairs and out the door.

"Alright! Bye Claire, and Happy Birthday!" I could hear her say as I walked outside into the cold winter air. I smiled, Celia remembered that my birthday was today, and she was going to celebrate tonight. Too bad her plans were ruined by a certain thief. I insisted that she shouldn't cancel her plans, but she didn't want to get in between our 'love'. I trotted along the moist snow, that was already beginning to melt away as spring wasn't too far away. I saw Nami not too far in the distance.

I never really spoke to her, frankly because I always got a negative feeling from her, and I could feel that feeling get stronger as I saw that she was approaching me. "Hello Claire." She said, her expression looking plain.

"Oh, Hi Nami." I said, shifting my eyes. I didn't want to look at her directly, feeling that the atmosphere was already awkward enough.

"Well... do you remember the day we got that note from the phantom thief? Well..." Nami rambled on about random things that I already knew, losing my attention. I was per-occupied thinking about Skye's letter. Why would he sent me such a strange letter? Was it just a playful joke? Knowing him, that wouldn't be too hard to believe. Is it possible that he might actually want to... I shook my head violently. No! Of course not, don't be silly! After all, he is a thief...

"...what I'm trying to say is, I know about you and that thief." She finally finished, and the sentence caught my attention.

"W-What?" I stuttered. Damn it, how do I save myself from this now?

"I knew because you had a look that night, it was strange. You were blushing, like that thief had done something to you, and I could definitely tell you were lying. Everyone else believed you, but you knew where he had really went."

I didn't say another word, but she knew the answer.

"I guess it's okay, since he really didn't steal anything. I checked the Inn, nothing was out of place. It seems a bit shady that you're in love with a thief, but love is love, right?" She said, and I saw a tiny smile appear on her face. "I told Ruby as well, she didn't seem to have a problem. I realized I should of told you this sooner but better late then never, right?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "I'm just so relieved that everyone at the Inn is fine with it. Thanks for telling me, Nami." I said, and continued to walk until I reached the bridge that lead to the Main Area.

Great, now six people know that I'm in love with Skye. That's just great. Well, at least they didn't seem angry about it, though I'm scared how some might react to it. Maybe telling the whole entire town about the infamous Phantom Skye wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

"Weird, why would he send you a note like this? I don't know what it means, this thief sure is a strange guy."

Tell me about it.

Rock tossed the note aside and merely looked unamused.

Rock and I were sitting on the ground in his room, talking about – of course – Skye.

I sighed. "I was hoping that you would know..." I looked at the ground and thought about whether or not it would be a good idea to ask him something. "I've been thinking... should I tell the town how I feel about Skye? Would they hate me for it?"

He shrugged. "Nah they wouldn't." He simply said, sighing and folding his arms.

"Alright." I began. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"It's Lumina... I did something that got her angry the other day... now she wont even speak to me. " He mumbled. "I don't what I did wrong!"

I shook my head at him. Typical Rock.

"Hey Claire... Can I kiss you?" He asked.

I didn't even look up at him. "No." I replied flatly.

I looked up to see his reaction, and I smiled in victory when he frowned.

"Well I told that to Lumina, but I was joking around with her. When she realized it was a joke, she just yelled at me and stormed off. Now she doesn't even want to look in my direction." He said, looking at the ground.

I shook my head. "You can't mess with girls' heads like that. It might be a joke to you, but she's serious." I sighed at how hopeless Rock was and looked to the side, rolling my eyes. "You're an idiot, Rock. You're going to lose a sweet girl like Lumina because of your stupidity."

He looked at me and pouted. "Shut up, Claire! Don't act like you understand everything about love, when you don't even understand your own boyfriend's note!" He shouted, folding his arms.

I blushed furiously. "W-What? He's not my boyfriend!"

"Yeah, sure." He mutter to himself, but loud enough that I could hear.

I made a face. "Well at least I have one!" I folded my arms and looked intensively at the ground, but my angry expression soon softened when I realized what I had just said. _Skye? My boyfriend? _We obviously haven't discussed the current status of our relationship, but we could it be that he _is _my boyfriend?.. My face reddened at the thought, and I could see a sly smile creep on Rock's face.

"Oh ho ho..." He began, as he poked my cheeks. I quickly swatted his hands away. "So you admit that he's your boyfriend?" He chuckled.

"No! That isn't what I meant! What I was trying to say is –"

"Don't hide it Claire, you're serious about this thief." He teased, and continued looking at me.

I groaned. "Okay! I'm leaving! I just wanted to see if you could tell me what this stupid note means, but you're no help! If I stay here any longer, I might kick your ass." I threatened, as I got up off the floor and headed towards the door.

He laughed. "As if you could hurt me. You know you love me, Claire."

"I don't love you any further then I could throw you." I retorted.

He laughed once more. "Alright, see you later Claire. Happy Birthday!"

I shook my head and smiled while exiting through the door. I didn't want to continue this conversation, especially since I was saving my patience.

I had another idiot to handle tonight.

* * *

I slowly shed one eye, awaken by the sound something rattling. I glanced over at the time, and immediately sat up when I realized the time.

Dammit! I fell asleep! What if Skye already passed by and saw that I was asleep, so he left?

I heard the sound of raindrops pounding against my roof, and I looked out the window from my bed. I saw that it was pouring outside. Maybe he didn't pass by because it started to rain.

The noises' volume increased, and I realized that my door was left ajar.

_Weird. I _remember locking the door after coming inside.

I could barely see anything, but all of the sudden, I could hear my dog yelp, then bark wildly. I quickly flipped the switch of the lamp next to me, and I saw Skye trying to silence my dog, with no luck whatsoever.

"Skye?..." I asked, blinking and standing up.

He chuckled nervously. "I've always been a pro at sneaking into young maidens homes', but I've never had any luck with dogs..."

I rubbed my eyes, still groggy from falling asleep. I wasn't really interested in Skye's experience, all I wanted to do was ask him what the note was all about, so he could leave and I could go back to sleep. "What do you want with my 'heart'?" I asked him, trying hard to keep my eyes open.

He chuckled, pulling my hair behind my ear and caressing my cheek. "You look tired, Claire. Maybe I should do this at another time..." He said.

My eyes widened and I quickly shook my head, trying to awaken myself completely. "No!" I shouted. "Sorry, sorry. I'm listening now. I'm awake, fully." I assured him, and he chuckled again.

"Good. Just making sure you won't regret your response in the morning." He said, and a pink tint appeared on his cheeks. "Well.." Skye looked at the ground, which was weird. Skye could look any girl in the eyes confidently and tell them everything they wanted to hear, so it was strange that he was acting so awkwardly.

I looked at him, confused.

"I have tons of experience with girls constantly offering me Blue Feather's, but I'm clueless on how to propose myself.."

What?

I blinked, shook my head a couple of times, and even pinched my arm to see if this wasn't some sort of crazy dream. "Ow!" I yelled, and rubbed my arm, trying to soothe the area where I pinched myself.

He raised a brow. "What was that for?" He asked, puzzled.

"Could you repeat what you just said?" I asked, ignoring his question.

His blush darkened, and I could feel the heat rise up to my face. Oh Damn, he really did say what I think he said. "Well... I.. uh..." He reached into his pocket, and went down on one knee. He grabbed my hand and pulled out a blue feather, placing it in my hand.

"Please, say you will." Was all that he said.

I couldn't breathe. Everything stopped for me. I looked down at the silky blue feather that was in my hand, and now I was sure I was dreaming. _Spend my whole life with a thief? _I did want Skye to stop stealing, and I had accomplished that. Now what? I had grown to love him, which was something that I didn't plan. Even though I love him, should I give him something that he would play with? _My heart? _He had changed, and here he was, killing himself trying to find the right words to say. He was an idiot, narcissistic, and just a bit ignorant, but I loved him nonetheless.

I saw his expression change, and without warning, he started laughing.

"Your face looks like a tomato." He pointed out.

I pouted.

He smiled warmly at me, and looked at the feather.

"Of course, stupid. Nothing would make me happier." I said, feeling like my heart was about to burst out of my chest.

He stood up, lifted me off the ground, and before I could respond, something soft and moist brushed against my lips. I could tell that he was ecstatic, by the way he held, squeezing me and his lips crushed against mine. I blushed, and parted from him.

"Trying not to break me." I teased, and smiled warmly.

"Sorry.." He muttered. "I'm just so elated. You've made me so happy, Claire. I really do want to spend the rest of my days with you, and I'm glad you feel the same way."

My arms were wrapped around his neck, and he had his hands under my knees, and we looked in each others eyes for a moment.

He walked over to my bed and gently laid me down, before slowly crawling over me and pinning his arms above my head.

I looked at him intensely for a moment, before my eyes slide down to his chest. I noticed his jacket was only fastened with one button, and he must of caught me staring, because he began to speak. "My, what could you possible be thinking, Claire?" He smirked.

My eyes darted up to him, and my face flushed. "N-No! Not that! Honest, I just noticed t-that your jacket is –"

He cut me off. "So you wouldn't want to...?" He questioned, chuckling and leaning down to kiss my neck.

"S-Skye! Don't say things like that!" I stuttered, quickly covering my neck before pushing him away. "It's not that I w-wouldn't want to, it's just that I –"

He chuckled. "So you do want to..." He smirked. "Consider it your birthday present, then."

My expression soon change to that of a surprised one. "You... you remembered..." a smile slowly melted on my face.

"Of course, how could I forget? After all, you remembered mine as well..." He smiled.

I chuckled nervously and looked of to the side. "Y-Yeah... about that..."

He ignored me, and quickly kissed my lips. I placed my hands on his chest, letting them slide down to the last button on his jacket, unfastening it. He must of felt it, because he broke the kiss and chuckled.

"I didn't realize how bad you really wanted this." He smirked.

"S-Shut up." I mumbled. "Just, d-don't say anything."

"I love you." He whispered, before undressing me.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **BIRTHDAY SEX W00T. Sex makes everything better :D Every great romance story has sex, right? I honestly didn't want anything sexual involved, (not to mention I made this particular topic longer then expected ^-^') because I wanted this exactly like the game, only in story format. Then I realized, with Claire's personality and what I've already written, I'd better off if I did it this way. I hope I wrote this right, I'm not very good with these things. I hope you didn't expect anything lemon-y in this, cause that's just not my thing xD anyways, enough rambling about that, I hope you enjoyed it, and enjoyed waiting 3 months for this.

R&R!


	19. Memories & Mansions

"Is this supposed to be a date?" Claire asked, blushing as she clung onto Skye's hand. The two were behind the waterfall near the mines, sitting right outside the hidden cave.

Skye chuckled. "Only if you want it to be."

"You know, I'd be nice if you could stay to watch the sunrise." The blonde said, wanting to rest her head on his shoulder but resisted. It seemed though as if was then that he let go of her hand and put his arm around her, pulling her close.

"It would be, but there's only so I can promise you, my darling." He smirked as she made a face and shivered.

"Don't call me that." She remarked, and he laughed.

They remained silent for a moment, before Claire spoke up. "Mind telling me how you fell in love?"

The thief chuckled. "Believe it or not, it was actually love at first site."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Oh please."

"Honest, It really was. The night I saw you, Claire... something just told me you weren't like the other girls. You didn't fall for my charm. You were immune, and I couldn't help but be allured. I also do believe that every maiden is a lovely one, but you were just so beautiful..." the blonde's face was burning up. She couldn't seem to make out any words. She always got choked up when someone complimented her.

"I put up with your insults and sometimes your hits just because I was addicted to your sight. In all my years of thievery, I can honestly tell you that I've never been more euphoric over a woman before."

At this point, Claire was looking away. She had no idea that he felt that way about her. She could also swear that her face was a bright, vivid red by now. Skye let his arm fall off her shoulder as she slowly began to shrink away from him.

He laughed. "Your embarrassment is adorable, Claire."

"S-Shut up!" She exclaimed, and her embarrassment slowly faded to anger as he laughed.

He splashed some water on her face and laughed once again when she cowered. She shot a glare at him. "Mind telling me how you came to be afraid of water?"

The smaller girls lips formed a pout. "I'm not afraid of water."

"Oh yes, you are."

She made another face. "Simple. I just never learned to swim." She said, a blush making it's way across her face and she turned her head away to keep him from teasing her blush.

"I can teach you how to swim." The thief remarked and gently pushed her forward. She quickly flew back and threw her arms around him, clinging onto him as if it was for dear life. His arms snaked their way around her waist and pulled her closer, as he let out a snicker.

"You're such a bastard."

"You're just a coward." He remarked. "Can't take a minor tease, fair maiden?"

The blonde once again made a face in disgust. "I have a name and you're free to use it." Claire soon realized that she was still clinging onto Skye, and frantically scrambled away, her trademark blush smearing across her cheeks.

Once Claire's face had returned to it's original color, she took a sharp intake of breath. "I'm afraid of drowning."

Skye smirked. "You wouldn't have anything to fear if you learned to swim." He snidely remarked.

The blonde ignore his retort. "Or maybe I'm just afraid of death. Of leaving all my responsibilities behind, Y'know?" She said, before wanting to take back her last word.

"Actually, I –"

"Course you don't." She quickly stated, already knowing his response. He chuckled.

The farmer continued. "When my father died, it was a really devastating time for me. He left Mother and I behind. He left Takakura, the farm, everyone behind. I know if he would of continued living if he had a choice, but he didn't. No one does." Tears began to brim in Claire's eyes, but she went on and blinked back the tears. "I couldn't bear to leave everyone behind. My mother, Celia and..." She paused, a pink tint crawling across her face. "You." A tear escaped from the corner of her eyes and she tried to wipe it away before Skye could notice, but the thief was ahead of her.

He cupped his hands on her face and tears began to spill from Claire's eyes. Skye could feel his heart snap when he heard her speak again.

"I miss my dad, Skye." Her voice broke, and the thief began to wipe away her tears with his thumb. Brushing her fringe out of her face with his hand, he decided to respond.

"He misses you too, Claire." He was never good when it came to comforting girls, mostly because he'd never seen a woman cry before. "Don't cry, darling. What would your father say if he saw you in tears? I'm certain he'd want you to be happy."

She looked up, staring at the man before him. He was right. Her father was a man that was always in high spirits no matter what. He would tell her to wipe her tears away and enjoy what we have, and not cry over what we don't. "Y-You're right." She stuttered. "He'd want me to be smiling."

He smiled warmly and kissed her forehead. They remained in embrace for the rest of the night until it was time for him to depart.

* * *

_'I hate him so much right now.'_

Claire was pacing at the Goddess Pond, waiting for the dreaded thief to arrive. _'Sometimes I honestly wonder how that man can live with himself, going around stealing everything he finds! Maybe I'm not so mad at him right now; maybe it's the things he makes me do. I swear it's like I don't even control my own actions! I covered for him, but why? Why in the world would I ever lie for a thief like him?' _She shook her head. _'That's right, because I'm an idiot! That's probably why I'm standing here in the cold, freezing my ass off by the Goddess pond. I have a plan though! I'm going to set him straight! I'm going to make him regret every stupid little robbery he's ever committed.'_

The infuriated blonde jumped when she heard sounds of feet treading snow. She turned around and narrowed her eyes when she saw it was Skye. The thief looked away. Of course he wasn't an idiot and already knew that he wasn't going to get off the hook for this one so easily. He didn't want to speak, he didn't want a snappy remark to possible end his friendship with Claire. He _loved _her too much to let it all go down the drain.

"Why." was the low but audible word that came out of Claire's mouth. He looked at the ground. How could he respond without infuriating the blonde even more? He had to be extra careful with his words. Just as he was about to speak, Claire spoke up again.

"I had to lie. I had to lie to everyone who's given me so much care and help. I had to lie to Celia, I had to lie Rock, and I had to lie to ever single honest person who's worked hard to get what they've earned. Why is it that you, a man whose never spoke the truth once in his life or worked for a single dime can have everything he desires by stealing from the people who deserve it more than you do?"

And there went his reply. On top of that, Claire just added more guilt to his conscience.

"I'm tired of lying, Skye. I'm sick and tired of the games, the stealing, everything. When is it going to stop? I'm trying to help you, Skye, but I can't if you won't let me!" She exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes. Mixed emotions were running though her. Frustration and sadness clashed together and she could feel pain in chest. As if her heart was actually cracking.

"Claire..."

She quickly interrupted him. "Skye, I care for you so much but you've only shown me that you're capable of no change at all. You're my best friend! I want something better for you! Why do you think I've stuck around so long? Why do you think I lied for you? Because I care about you!"

He took a deep breath and tried to take everything in with as much serenity as possible. _'If she'd just let me speak...'_ "Claire." He said once more, less hesitant then the last time.

But she gave him no room to speak. "I can't understand why I continue trying though! It's like a lost cause, yet I don't want to listen! I want to believe that you can be honest! That you can stop stealing! But you've only proven me wrong! And I honestly believe that there's something wrong with me because you're always in my mind, you're in my thoughts, it's like you're always with me! I haven't realized that your just a –"

Claire stopped herself. She was pinned against a tree. Skye, who was cursing under his breath for letting his emotions take over. _'Screw it, actions speak louder than words.'_

The blonde felt the oxygen become thinner as she began to breath more heavily. She had never seen him react that way before. He dropped his arms and balled his hands into fists. He could jeopardize their entire relationship if tried do what he wanted to do. His breath became unsteady and he could feel himself get shaky. He refused to look her in the eyes.

Claire began to notice him become uneasy and a bit nervous. All of the sudden, he took a sharp intake of breath and looked her in the eyes. He inched closer, and she could see in his eyes that he was skeptical, yet his actions were bold and confident. He slowly began to inch closer and the blonde could feel her heart race and pound against her chest. _Bdmp, Bdmp. _Was it possible that he could hear it as well? She sheepishly covered her chest in hopes that it might muffle the sound of her heart beats.

_'Damn, why is this so difficult? I've played with girls' hearts before, surely I can –' _He cut off his train of thought. _'Well, this is different. I'm not playing. This is love.' _He continued to try and keep his composure. The distant between them was closed when the felt their bodies press against each other. _'I'm too close.'_ He damned himself for not being vigil. _'I'm going to frighten her – Is that her heart beat?'_ He was surprised to hear the farmer's heart pound invariably against her chest. _Bdmp, Bdmp. _

They both nervous. The only difference was that the thief knew what he was going to do, and she didn't, which only heightened her fear.

He continued to stare at her eyes, until his eyes began to slide lower. She knew what he was staring at, but refused to believe it. _'No.'_ She thought. _'There's no way that he's thinking about –'_

Her eyes flew open when she felt something warm and moist press against her lips. It was Skye, and he had kissed her! How could she possibly just stand there and let him steal a kiss? It was as if her body moved on it's own, because she suddenly found herself wrapping her arms around his neck, urging him to continue.

Her mouth was alluring, and tasted sweet, which only stimulated his desire to explore her mouth with his tongue. It was new to him; he was never the one to kiss woman here and there. Although he severely wanted her to let him in, he pulled back, afraid that his emotions might get the best of him again.

She was out of breath, panting heavily and a red blush painted her face as realization hit her. She swung her hand forward and slapped his face, ready to scream and kick and most likely kill him.

Her slap brought him back to reality and he chuckled. "Completely worth it."

The blonde's face scrunched up. "Why the hell did you kiss me? What could of possibly possessed you to do such a thing?" She shouted, her heart still racing.

"Love." Was the response that earned him another slap across the face.

"L-Love? What the hell! W-What do you mean love?" She stumbled upon words as the thought of him actually being in love with her came into view. _'L-Love? Why – What? – How?' _She was baffled.

"I mean that I love you."

Claire swung her hand towards him once more until he evaded her attack by grabbing her wrist. "My cheek still stings from your previous attacks."

She pulled her hand back and rubbed her wrists as if there had been handcuffs around them.

"Let's compromise, shall we?"

_'I don't like the sound of that.'_ The blonde thought, and before she could reply, he went on.

"I'll stop stealing if you'll be with me."

Her face burned up, and she turned away. "Absolutely not!" She refused.

He smirked. "It took you quite a while to retreat. In fact, If I hadn't pulled away, you'd be out of control."

"T-That.. That is not true!" She exclaimed.

He simply snickered.

* * *

"I can't believe you'd do such a thing!" Claire exclaimed, throwing the necklace back at him. "You stole a necklace to try and apologize for what you did to Celia! Unbelievable!"

He chuckled nervously. "I thought woman loved jewelry."

"Not when it's engraved to someone else!" The smaller girl picked up the necklace and showed him the back. He looked in another direction, scratching his cheek. _'How was it that I didn't catch that?...'_ He thought to himself.

"Sorry?" He mumbled. "Shouldn't you be elated that I tried to do something thoughtful for once?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, real thoughtful. Apologize for stealing by stealing! Bet it didn't take you that long to think that one up!"

He chuckled. "You're just full of snarky remarks, aren't you, Claire?"

She groaned and handed him the necklace. "Let's go."

He looked at her as if she was speaking another language. "Where to, fair maiden?"

"Don't call me that!" She exclaimed. "We're going to return this necklace, like it or not!" She stormed down the dirt path that would lead her to town before she paused. She didn't know where Skye had gotten the necklace from. She sharply turned around and glared at him. "Where did you get this necklace from?"

The cocky thief laughed, which only made Claire's anger boil even more. "I'll never tell."

"What do you mean you'll never tell?" She exclaimed. "You better tell me or else!"

He raised a brow, a smirk crawling across his face. "Or else what?" He asked.

The blonde thought for a moment, trying hard to keep her angry expression. What could she do? "Shut up!" She grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards town, and he reluctantly went along, deciding to help Claire return the necklace.

The walked into the path that led to Mineral Town, but took a different route. There was a small dirt path and the moon was the only guidance they had. The young farmer walked close to Skye, afraid that someone might pop out of nowhere.

"Why would someone live here?" She asked, hearing a rustling in the leaves and jumped, grabbing onto Skye's arm.

He chuckled. He easily inferred that she was scared of the woods, and that she needed to feel protected. "Don't fret, Claire. I would never let anything happen to you." He said in a soothing voice, trying to calm her nerves.

She was too afraid to yell at him or push him away. She simply continued clinging onto his arm, walking down the path with him. The leaves showed signs of winter nearing, as most of the leaves had already fallen. The trees looked bare, which only gave the forest a frightening appearance.

They reached a long fence with a black gate right in between. _'How did he sneak inside of here?' _The blonde pondered, as she felt a stiff arm wrap around her waist. She turned to look at him. "What are you –"

He covered her mouth, hissing lowly. "Be quiet, Claire." He whispered before quickly adding. " – And hang on."

She looked at him strangely until she felt their bodies soar through the air. She shut her eyes and wrapped her arms around him. That was when she realized that Skye had jumped, branch to branch, until they were at the highest one. "S-Skye! What are you – "

He hissed for her to be quiet and she pouted. "We're returning the necklace. Just like you said." He whispered. She looked at the ground and shut her eyes, scared of the possibility of falling. The mansion was only a couple feet away, and Skye's eyes were set on the 2nd floor balcony. The smaller girl shut her eyes once again as she felt her body fly and suddenly stop. Skye had landed the jumped, without injuring Claire nor himself. He released her, and he picked the lock on the door in less than 3 seconds.

_'He's a pro at this.' _She thought, astonished at his catlike abilities and lock-picking speed. _'Wait, why am I admiring this?'_ She shook her head and scolded herself for being in awe at something that was illegal.

The two snuck inside the room. It was a huge room, with a bed, a vanity, and drawers. The bed had a canopy of white fabric that draped elegantly at the corners. The bedsheets looked as if they were made of silk, and it was all white, as if it was the room of an angel. On the vanity there was a collection of perfumes, ornaments, and family photos. At the very end of the vanity was wooden box with carvings, probably a jewelery box.

Skye looked in her direction and mouthed the words 'Stay here'. When he turned his attention toward the vanity, Claire began to peer over towards the white bed to see who laid there. It was a girl, a very beautiful one, at that, with fair skin and long onyx hair that spread and draped over the edge of the bed. By that time Skye had already returned the necklace and was by the balcony, waiting for Claire to stop staring at the girl.

"Claire!" He hissed as lowly as he could. With the silence of the night, it was audible to anyone who was in the room. The farmer was startled and jumped, knocking over a vase that looked quite expensive, and fell back onto the scattered broken pieces of the vase.

The onyx haired girl was startled awake by the amount of noise Claire had caused. She sat up, blinking a couple of times and throwing the covers off of herself. She paused as the cool autumn air surrounded her warm body and she shivered. She walked over to where her vase use to stand and examined the broken pieces. "Is that... blood?" The girl said, picking up a piece of the vase that had a blood stain on it. She looked towards the glass doors that were wide open, autumn wind blowing her curtains.

Skye had used his catlike reflexes to grab Claire and rush out of the room, already jumping branch to branch. Claire had covered her eyes, scared to see how dangerous this might be. The thief landed on the ground with ease but did not set the smaller girl down nor did he stop. He continued running, running until he was sure that they were far – and safe – from the mansion. Panting, he set the blonde down, grabbing her arm to examine the cuts.

Claire flinched and retracted her arm. "Ow! That hurts, Skye!" She exclaimed, glaring at him angrily. "I wouldn't of gotten hurt if you hadn't stolen that necklace!"

Skye exhaled deeply. Thievery was always something that was fun for him, and thievery required patience, slow movements and quick thinking. It angered him that he was doing something alike with someone who obviously lacked every quality. _'Patience, Skye.'_ He told himself. _'You're doing this because you love her.' _He looked at her and saw her eyes spoke pain and sadness. "It's okay, Claire." He said soothingly, stroking her head. He looked around for something to bandage her cuts with. _'Damn, what could I possibly –'_ He paused when he looked over at his arm. He could use the sleeves of his jacket. _'A bit ghetto.'_ He thought. _'But it'll have to do for now.'_ He ripped off his right sleeve and wrapped it around her cuts. She hissed in pain for a while but then she was able to relax.

"That feels better." She sighed in relief, smiling. She stood and was surprised when Skye suddenly picked her up.

"H-Hey! I just injured my arm, I can't walk just fine!" She said, blushing.

He smirked. "I'll take you home, don't you worry." He chuckled and began to walk down the path that would take the two back to Forget-Me-Not Valley.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Well you guys, Today I came late to school, broke my Art teacher's mirror and broke up with my boyfriend. You see what I do for you guys? Anywhore, Does anyone else think Skye is surprising sexy? Cause I sure do xD Okay, These are snippets of things that happened (or could of happened) to Claire and Skye. The 2nd part was an alternate scenario to Chapter 16 (keeping in mind that they did not kiss in Chapter 15.) and the 3rd was an alternate scenario to Chapter 13.

R&R!


	20. Red Hearts

_**Thursday**_

This was it. When I had imagined getting married as a child, I didn't exactly think it would be to a thief. _Former _thief, to be exact. I didn't think I'd be wearing a simple white dress, nor that my own fiancee would be the one marrying us. I didn't think It'd be by the Goddess pond, nor did I think that no one would show up. I'd always thought I'd be walking down the aisle, escorted by my father while my mother cried in the front row. I was expecting a church house, where every single one of friends and family would be sitting side-by-side, watching me wed a prince. Of course, I didn't expect my father to die nor my mother to be a million miles away. I didn't expect falling in love with a thief, or having a private wedding. But despite everything I imagined, I'm still happy. I might not be wearing a breath-taking wedding gown or have my parents by my side to support me, but I have love, and that's enough.

Spring had settled into Forget-Me-Not Valley, and the famous cherry blossoms were already in bloom. The wind had blown some of the petals off the tree, blowing some across me as I walked down the path that I've walked down so many times in the past. Skye chuckled as he saw me walk towards him. I felt like I was a movie, like I was watching the forbidden couple finally marry and have their happily ever after.

Once I reached him, he grabbed my hands, smiling brightly. The wind continued to blow, making my hair flow through the wind. "It's just the two of us. Our own private wedding."

I smiled back, and I could feel my cheeks burn. He chuckled. "Well, let's get started."

He took a sharp intake of breath before looking me directly in the eyes and speaking. "As a former thief, I've got my share of secrets. But I promise to love you as long as I live." His cheeks gained color and he was chuckling nervously.

"Alright, Claire. I might have been a no-good thief, but will you love me for as long as we both shall live?" He asked.

I was at a loss for words. I was so elated that I was scared that I might wake up and find it all to be just some dream. I nodded bashfully and managed a whispered "Yes.".

He didn't make fun of me, in fact, he blushed himself. "Thank you. I love you."

"Excuse me, you two!"

I was startled by the random voice and grabbed Skye's hand, surprised to the Harvest Goddess, floating right above the pond. The Harvest Goddess! I looked over to see Skye's expression and he was equally shocked.

She giggled and smiled, the way a child would. "Dum-da-da-DAA! Congratulations on your marriage!" She exclaimed. "You seem like wonderful newlyweds! I'll ring the bell for you."

I began to hear bells ringing in the distance, and the Harvest Goddess disappeared. I looked over at Skye once more, throwing my arms around him and giving him his first kiss from his wife.

His wife.

* * *

"And that's how my great grandma got married!" Little Ariana exclaimed, looking over at the teacher.

"That's a wonderful story on you ancestors Ariana, let's all give her a round of applause!" The entire 1st grade classroom stood up and clapped as Ariana proudly strutted back to her seat.

"Really? Your great grandpa was a stealer?" Chirped a little red-headed girl, sitting right next to Ariana. "And your great grandma met a magic lady?"

Ariana smiled proudly. "Yup! Yup! And my great grandpa had magic powers too!"

The group of girls crowding her gasped in amazement.

"Can we see the picture of your great grandma and grandpa again?" Asked another girl, who had her hair tied in pigtails.

Ariana nodded and swiftly picked up the picture of Claire and Skye, holding a small child.

A blonde girl raised a brow. "Who the lil' baby?" She asked, pointing at finger at the newborn the couple were holding.

"That's my daddy!"

They awed in amazement. The rest of the class continued with girls constantly asking Ariana questions about her great grandparents. It was alright though.

Ariana loved the attention.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **LE END . Aww, it's over, tear . Since the wedding event was short, I decided to add a little bit of the future inside of this chapter. I read Yugioh13's story and that little part when Claire (Opps I mean Jenny xD) tells her daughter about how she and Skye got married and I was all like, "Hey that's a good idea!" The only difference is that I used the 3rd generation and the setting was in school. Since we already have the same story title (Which is completely coincidental, I swear xD) I don't want to make it seem like I'm stealing ideas from her story, cause I'm not. Woo, glad I got that off my chest(: Hope you enjoyed this story and be sure to check out my newest story that I'm working on called "Give Love a Try." There's -some- Skye action in there! So go read it and review!

R&R!


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